Days in a Crucible
by doopdoop2
Summary: While working together as pro heroes, Iida, Bakugou and Todoroki are taken captive. The situation is strange: their Quirks don't work, and they aren't tortured or killed – in fact, they never see their captors. There is nothing to do but wait. But who knows how this will change them, when (or if) they get out... [Complete]
1. Chapter 1

Iida remembers nothing.

The last thing he can recall is brushing his teeth that morning. No, that's not true; he also remembers getting a call from work. Did he get called in to fight a villain? It would make sense. It's… Tuesday? No, Wednesday. So he would have been on call. That checks out.

But he senses that he is lying on his stomach on a hard floor, eyes shut, and he cannot put together what must have happened in between then and now. He tries to remember that call. It must have been a villain, and he must have suffered an injury that rendered him immobile. He can only lie there and feel the soothing coolness of the floor beneath him.

If he is indeed injured, he should be in a hospital room, in a bed and not face-down on the floor. Iida can infer that something else is going on, something he is not mentally prepared for. He tries to clear his thoughts and turn his attention outward, to his surroundings.

The room is silent. The floor beneath his body is free of vibrations. No matter what else is happening or has already happened, in this moment he is safe; he savors that knowledge, because with each second he grows more awake, he feels fear growing inside him, as the absolute _wrongness_ of the situation fully takes hold. Iida knows he will not feel safe for long.

He hears a groan, feels the vibration of it. Whoever is making that sound is nearby, probably not more than a few feet away from him. Iida wills himself to do something, anything – to make a noise, to move a limb, to open his eyes – but he finds he cannot. He must have either been drugged or gravely injured, or he's under some kind of Quirk.

He hears the person nearby shift. Then he feels a hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently. "Iida?" the voice says, low and monotone, and, oh, he knows that voice – it's Todoroki, Iida realizes after a second. He tries to force himself to move, tries so hard that in other circumstances he would have gotten tears in his eyes from the effort, but nothing.

He feels Todoroki taking his vitals. His hands are cool on Iida's neck. Iida finds himself hoping his heart's still beating – maybe it's as immobile as the rest of him – but apparently Todoroki finds what he's looking for, because after a moment Iida hears the telltale sound of him walking away. He doesn't go far, just takes a few steps and stops. He stays there for longer, but after a couple of minutes Iida hears him walk off again. The steps go on for longer, around where Iida is lying. Todoroki must be circling the room.

After what seems like hours, Iida finds himself able to move, although just a little. He can wiggle his fingers, and his voice is beginning to work again as well. He lets out a grunt, the closest thing to words he can manage, and hears the footsteps stop and come towards him.

"Iida," Todoroki says again, and this time Iida can open his eyes. He sees Todoroki, but only vaguely – his vision is blurry, and Iida longs to rub his eyes to clear them, but he can't, he isn't able to move his limbs that far.

"Todoroki," Iida says in response, or tries to; all that comes out is another guttural sound. He sees Todoroki frown in concern and glance at something over his shoulder, then kneel down on the ground next to Iida, looking him over.

"_Where_," Iida says, and that word, at least, comes out sounding like human speech.

Todoroki shakes his head. "Don't know," he says. "I just woke up a little bit ago. Are you hurt? It doesn't look like you are."

"No," Iida says. Talking is easier now, but his mouth's dry, so dry. "Don't think so. But… can't move."

"Let me roll you over," Todoroki says, and pushes on Iida's side. Iida feels himself twist, limp as a ragdoll, limbs splayed out, head facing straight up now instead of to the side.

The ceiling is bright, too bright, and Iida scrunches his eyes shut. "Water?" he asks hopefully, after a moment has passed, and to his surprise Todoroki almost immediately holds something to his lips – a glass of water, the best thing Iida's tasted in his life. A trickle of it runs out the corner of his mouth, but he still cannot move a hand to his face, so he cannot brush it away.

"Bakugou's over there," Todoroki says, frowning. "Still unconscious."

"Bakugou?" Iida echoes, trying to make sense of it. He still doesn't remember anything.

"He doesn't seem hurt, either," Todoroki says. "But I can't really tell."

Iida tried to lift himself into a sitting position. He fails, but Todoroki can tell what he's doing, and leans in to help him, sliding an arm around his shoulders and easing his torso up.

He realizes suddenly why everything is so blurry, so out of focus – he isn't wearing his glasses. But he can observe the general shape of the room. It's not what he was expecting – it's not a lair or a dungeon. The floor is wood or a good imitation of it, the walls painted a soft gray-blue. There are three cots in a row off to one side, but no other furniture he can see, and no windows, nothing on the walls at all.

"Your glasses are over there," Todoroki says. "Can you stay up by yourself?"

Iida nods and Todoroki fetches his glasses; at last Iida gets a good look around the room. For the first time he notices a door behind him. Todoroki follows his gaze. "It's a bathroom," he says. "Shower, toilet, sink. That's all."

But that doesn't make sense. There is no other door, no window – no way for them to have gotten inside, at least not that Iida can see. Is there a trapdoor? A hidden entrance? "How did we…?" His throat is still dry, and he interrupts his own sentence with a cough.

"I don't know," Todoroki says, looking around. "I don't understand it. And we're all wearing civilian clothing, not our costumes." He hesitates a moment, his gaze still on Iida's face, before adding, "And there's something else weird, too."

"What's that?"

"I can't use my Quirk." Todoroki's voice is nearly a whisper, as if he's embarrassed about what he's saying. "I tried and nothing happened."

"When I feel recovered, I'll try mine as well," Iida says. "Perhaps it's just a side effect of whatever they drugged us with."

Todoroki nods, looking unconvinced, when suddenly they both hear a noise – Bakugou waking up, it must be. The noise is a dry gasp, the deep inhale of someone who can finally get enough air after being deprived of it. Todoroki rises and walks quickly over, but Iida still feels too shaky to do anything but look from across the room

"Bakugou," Todoroki says, "are you alright?"

Bakugou's eyes open, and his face contorts into a look of pure terror. He opens his mouth like he wants to speak, but all that comes out is another long, ragged inhale. It's almost too much for Iida to bear; as little as he loves Bakugou's company under normal circumstances, he understands perfectly the shock that comes with waking up immobile. Shakily, on his hands and knees, he makes his way over to the others, and kneels on the ground next to Todoroki.

"Bakugou," Iida says, "when I woke up I was also unable to move. I don't know if it was a Quirk, a drug, or something else, but the effect will gradually wear off over the next ten to fifteen minutes."

Bakugou shuts his mouth and looks at Iida, his gaze direct. It's that look of rapt attention that compels Iida to continue. "Neither of us knows where we are. We're in a room with three cots and nothing else. There's also a bathroom adjoining it. There are no other rooms, no doors and windows."

He does not mention Todoroki being unable to use his Quirk; he feels it's best not to alarm Bakugou too much until Iida can verify it himself. It may be a problem with Todoroki alone.

"I haven't gotten to my feet yet, either," Iida adds. "I got hit by – whatever is affecting you." He turns to Todoroki, struck by a thought. "Were you not affected by it?"

"I don't know," Todoroki says, rubbing his forehead. "I woke up here, but I don't…"

"Water," Bakugou croaks, startling them both. Todoroki brings the glass to him and holds it against his lips, and Iida wonders how thirsty Bakugou must be, to drink from a glass in Todoroki's hand – to ask for help at all.

Within a few minutes Bakugou is moving his hands, and a few minutes after that he pushes himself shakily into a sitting position, turning away from Iida's proffered arm. "How the fuck did we get here," he mutters, more to himself than for the others' benefit, Iida thinks.

"Do either of you remember anything?" Iida says. "I personally don't. The last thing I remember is receiving a phone call this morning."

"Morning?" Bakugou says, frowning. "Isn't it night?"

Iida can only shrug. "My memory is hazy. The last thing I remember is: it was Wednesday morning, I was waking up and preparing for the day, and I received a call. I can theorize that I was called in to help with a villain, but I cannot be certain."

Bakugou shook his head. "Fucking hell – I don't – I just remember Tuesday night…"

"I remember Wednesday morning as well," Todoroki says.

Bakugou groans and rubs at his eyes, then takes another drink of water, this time unassisted. "As soon as I can stand I'm going to bust us out of here. You guys ready?"

Todoroki meets Iida's eyes, saying nothing. They both nod to Bakugou. Iida wants to see what happens when he tries. Maybe Todoroki's observation was a fluke; maybe it will work this time.

It's another ten minutes or so until Bakugou can stand, and they all get to their feet, Todoroki helping Iida when he nearly trips. They hobble to the bathroom and look inside; just like Todoroki said, it looks like a normal bathroom: there's a plain toilet, a sink, a shower, and, weirder still, there are towels – three large bath towels, three washcloths, and a hand towel next to the sink, all white, like the kind you might find at a hotel. There's soap by the sink and shampoo in the shower.

Bakugou tests everything – the water runs, the toilet flushes. Then they all go out again, Iida finding his legs more steady each second. The three of them feel along the walls, looking for an exit and finding nothing, not even the hint of one. Every wall is as smooth and flat as every other, including in the bathroom. They feel along the floorboards, too; it's real wood, Iida finds, but none of it seems to hide a trapdoor or a way out.

Bakugou selects a place, at random as far as Iida can tell, and motions for the others to stand back. Then he puts his hands in front of him – looking smaller than normal, since he doesn't have the massive grenades that come with his costume – and –

Iida can't say _nothing_ happens, because for a moment it almost seems like something is. There's a change to the air, a slight shimmer like the mirage that comes off hot asphalt, but it passes in a split second and then there is truly nothing, silence and still air.

Bakugou's mouth falls open. For a moment he is simply too stunned to move. Then he turns to the others, wordless, waiting for some kind of explanation, some reassurance.

"The same thing happened to me," Todoroki says. "My Quirk wouldn't work, ether – fire or ice."

"You didn't think to fuckin' _tell me_?"

Todoroki shrugs. "I just wanted to see if the same thing happened to you."

Bakugou lunges towards him, actually grabs at the fabric of Todoroki's shirt and pulls him closer. "You stuck-up little…"

Iida cannot stand to see this, and probably he and Todoroki together could subdue Bakugou, but he doesn't want to fight – not when they might need to reserve their strength for villains or something else. "I haven't tried my Quirk yet," he says loudly – too loudly; his voice echoes uncomfortably in the small room. But it gets Bakugou's attention, and he drops Todoroki with a huff.

"Fine, try it," he says. "If mine didn't work, yours won't either."

He's right, of course, and Iida knew it perfectly well even before the attempt, but at least they're no longer seconds away from an all-out brawl. Bakugou has Todoroki try again, just to make sure, as if Todoroki was lying about his powers not working for some reason. Then Bakugou just… snaps.

He starts banging on the walls, kicking, screaming; Iida can tell he wants to break something, but there is so little there that he can only topple the cots and throw the blankets on the floor. "Come out, you fuckers," he says, "come out and fight us!" He screams until the room is ringing with it, until his voice is raw. Then he falls to his knees in a heap, panting, staring at the wall, but only for a moment; then he's up again, feeling along the walls, staring at the ceiling, looking frantically for a way out.

Todoroki calmly walks over to the corner where the cots are and rights them. Then he folds the blankets up, one by one, and sets them back on top, one atop each bed. After this is done he sits down and continues watching Bakugou. Iida, feeling sick to his stomach and trying not to think too hard about the situation, goes up to Todoroki and sits on another cot beside him.

"Do you have any ideas?" Todoroki asks him, low enough that Bakugou cannot hear.

"It's perplexing that the room is so well sealed off," Iida says, glad to be distracted with conversation. "Bakugou probably has the right idea. Maybe there is a seam in the ceiling or floor somewhere we missed."

"Or someone has a Quirk that involves going through walls, like Mirio's. Or putting other people through walls. Or moving walls. Or creating portals, like that guy in the League of Villains."

Iida nods. He hadn't considered any of this, and the idea of it makes his heart sink, but Todoroki has a good point. "Not to mention, we don't know what is suppressing our Quirks. It could be another person's Quirk, similar to Aizawa's, but on the other hand, it seems to work all the time for all three of us, without them looking… Could it be a drug?"

"I've never heard of anything like that," Todoroki says. Iida knows there's an unspoken _But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist_, because at this point they both know that anything is possible.

"If you two would finish your little _chit-chat_," Bakugou says, staring at them with wild eyes, "and help me, that would be fucking _fantastic_."

"We're accomplishing as much as you are currently," Todoroki says, and unsurprisingly Bakugou lunges at him again. This time Todoroki's expecting it, and dodges just in time; Bakugou hits the cot and slips to the ground. He scrambles to his feet in an instant, growling with rage.

"Stop it!" Iida says, putting himself between them. "You don't know what's going to happen. We may yet need to fight a villain. You need to save your strength! It's foolish to hurt each other like this!"

Bakugou is seething, breathing fast and baring his teeth. But as Iida watches, his breathing slows, and he nods, still looking mad as hell but at least acknowledging Iida's point. "Then you should _help me_," he says at last, and Iida, even knowing how hopeless it almost certainly is, jumps to do so anyway. He runs his hands along the splintery wood of the floorboards, pressing, seeing if there's a switch or button or the edges of a trapdoor, Bakugou doing the same at his side.

They cover the entire floor. It doesn't take long; it's not a huge room, perhaps the size of the living room of a normal house. They can't reach the ceiling on their own, but they take turns sitting on each other's shoulders, the one on top running his hands along the ceiling much the same way they did to the floor. They switch whenever one of them gets tired; Iida feels he's not at full strength, maybe because of the drug, so they switch often. He can't remember ever working together with Bakugou like this, and Bakugou is as focused as Iida's ever seen him – free of taunts, paying attention solely to the task at hand except to shoot Todoroki a resentful glare every now and then.

They unscrew the handles of the sink; they stick their fingers up the faucet and down the drain. They take apart the toilet and Bakugou even puts his hands in the water, gritting his teeth but not saying a word as he does so. They pry the grate off the shower drain and find damp, tangled hair, but nothing resembling a switch or a button, and certainly no way out.

"It doesn't make any sense," Bakugou says. "_It doesn't make any sense_!" He slams the toilet seat down and it cracks, a black line bisecting it down the middle.

Todoroki wanders in just at that moment. "I'm glad you found a good solution," he says in a flat, dry tone, and Iida has to get between them again. Todoroki has no sense of self-preservation, Iida thinks, growing angry himself. He's holding Bakugou but Todoroki is right there in the entrance to the bathroom, not stepping back, not giving them any space, and Iida cannot stop Bakugou from reaching him even though Iida is between them; they topple over into a heap, Todoroki on the bottom.

"You are _both_ behaving foolishly," Iida says, very close to losing his cool. "Todoroki, stop provoking Bakugou. While he may be overreacting, his emotional responses are completely understandable under the circumstances. And Bakugou, stop using violence! There may be villains lying in wait, observing us, and if we injure each other we may lose our chance to fight back!"

Bakugou was staring at him. Iida's not sure what he said that's so shocking until Bakugou repeats, "Observing us?"

"We can't know for sure, of course," Iida says. "But I can only assume…"

Bakugou's shaking his head, and Iida trails off, not finishing his sentence. "Leave me alone," Bakugou says, getting to his feet and going into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Iida knows there is no lock on the bathroom door, so the privacy isn't real, but hopefully being in a separate room from Todoroki might work to calm him down at least a little.

Once he's out of sight, Todoroki walks back over to the cot and sits down again. "What now?" Iida asks him, looking over the room for what feels like the thousandth time.

Todoroki shakes his head. "Nothing to do but wait, really."

Iida sits down too. He feels tense, like every muscle in his body is on-edge, ready to spring into action at any moment. In his stomach there's an unpleasant sick feeling, too, and he wonders if he might vomit. In his short time as a pro hero he has never been captured, never even come close to it. The worst part in his opinion is that he can remember _nothing_. He can't think about what he did wrong and plan for the future, because he has absolutely no idea what he did to get into this mess in the first place.

He has to force himself to remain calm, and even then he doesn't really succeed, but he does slow his breathing. He counts three seconds for each inhale, three for each exhale. He unclenches his fists and rests his hands palm-down on his knees, just listening to the room, seeing if there's anything he can observe.

All he can think to do, if things do not change, is wait to be rescued.

The realization makes his breathing speed up, and he has to focus to calm it again. To have his life so completely in others' hands is something heroes aren't used to. He can't remember ever feeling so helpless, so out of the loop and adrift.

He glances over at Todoroki, who is actually lying down, and when Iida meets his eyes, Todoroki shuts his. "Wake me up if anything happens," he says, and Iida doesn't understand how anyone can be so calm, how Todoroki can even think of falling asleep in this situation.

But nothing changes. There is no way to tell the time, but Iida knows hours are passing. Todoroki actually does fall asleep, and Iida just sits there, hands on his knees, staring at nothing, thinking, rolling the situation over and over again in his mind and coming up with nothing.

He holds it as long as he can, but eventually Iida has to bring himself to knock on the bathroom door and ask Bakugou if he can enter. Bakugou opens it and, when he sees Todoroki sleeping, he laughs incredulously. "That guy's messed up in the head," Bakugou says. "How can he sleep at a time like this?"

Iida doesn't say that he was thinking the same thing. "Please don't use violence," he says instead, a pleading note in his voice he doesn't intend.

"Why did I have to be stuck with _that_ fucker," Bakugou says, stepping away from the bathroom door and letting Iida in.

Iida has to resist the urge to do what Bakugou did and hole himself up inside. Something about the privacy of the room is deeply tempting. The light is dimmer and warmer, and it actually feels like a real bathroom – he can pretend he's in someone's house, almost, if he doesn't think too hard. Everything looks so normal, save for the cracked toilet seat. There's hand soap by the sink and shampoo in the shower, one of the cheap off-brands that leaves your hair unpleasantly waxy, but at least it's something. It is also unnerving, because it makes Iida realize they might be here for a long time. If this were a holding cell, why would they need shampoo?

So, on a whim, Iida turns the shower on. It takes a little bit to turn warm, but the water pressure's fine, and after a little while he decides to actually step into it and take a shower. The rational part of his brain is telling him not to do it; he can't remember what's happened, and he may be washing off vital evidence. But a larger part of him thinks, _There is nothing else to do and this is better than sitting around_, and showers anyways. He doesn't actually seem particularly dirty, and he isn't injured, so if there was actually a fight, it wasn't a long one. But the water feels nice on his skin, and he takes a longer shower than he has in a long time, using the hand soap from the sink to clean every part of himself with care. He draws it out intentionally with the knowledge that once he's done, there is nothing else he can do.

But finally, maybe forty or fifty minutes later, he realizes he cannot prolong it anymore, and turns the water off. He dries himself with one of the clean towels and puts his old clothing back on. It's _his_ clothing, his jeans and T-shirt, and he wonders again what in the world happened that he should be caught so unaware. He would kick his former self except he actually has no idea whether or not he was to blame.

"You _showered_?" Bakugou says, as soon as Iida leaves the bathroom. Todoroki is still on one of the cots, but awake and sitting up. Bakugou is standing in the opposite corner, as far away as he can be, but he steps towards Iida when he comes out.

"I – I could see no harm in it," Iida says, gritting his teeth, although he actually could see a million ways it could have gone wrong. Maybe there were poisonous chemicals in the shower water, or in the shampoo or the soap. Not to mention all the valuable evidence that's gone now, literally washed down the drain. But at the moment, he can't take back what he's already done – and, more than that, he doesn't regret it. He feels better now, like the last of the drug (or whatever) that made him weak is finally out of his system. He's growing hungry, but that's better than the groggy fear that had a hold on him up until that point.

"Whatever," Bakugou says.

Todoroki stands. "My turn," he says, and goes into the bathroom.

For a moment after he's gone, there's only silence. Then Iida makes his way over to the cots. He drags the one he was sitting on before into a corner – not the one Bakugou's standing in, but one between them. The room is slightly rectangular, with the bathroom door in the middle of one of the wider sides. Todoroki's corner and Iida's corner are closest to it, with Bakugou's corner further away.

After Iida takes his cot, Bakugou takes one of his own. This is good, Iida thinks. It's best for them to have their own territory, their own turf. He wonders if there's any way to put dividers up, to hang towels or blankets between the cots for some more privacy, but even if they didn't need the towels or blankets – which, he has a feeling, they do – there's nothing to hang them from.

They hear the sound of the shower. Bakugou's eyes flick towards the bathroom door, but he says nothing. He's sitting on the edge of his cot, his arms folded, his legs bent at the knee with his feet on the floor. He still looks entirely on-edge, Iida thinks, like a fight might break out any minute. He wonders how long Bakugou will be able to go without sleep, if he will try to stay up the entire time they are there – however long it turns out to be.

Todoroki's shower is shorter than Iida's was, maybe twenty minutes. By this time Iida is actually beginning to feel tired; maybe whatever drug rendered him unconscious hadn't actually refreshed him at all, or maybe there was something in the air or the water to make him sleepy. He shifts uncomfortably on his cot, wondering if he dares to close his eyes and rest, when the room goes black.

Todoroki throws the door open and Iida realizes the bathroom lights didn't also go out, but they did dim. He can see Todoroki silhouetted, towel around his waist. In the half-light Iida sees Bakugou jump to his feet and he does the same, all tiredness evaporating, his heart in his throat. The three of them meet near the bathroom door.

"What do you think…" Iida begins, but Bakugou holds up a hand and shakes his head. For a long moment they do nothing but listen. Iida hears nothing but the drip-drip-drip of water off Todoroki's hair and their own anxious breathing, but he holds perfectly still for upwards of five minutes, just listening, waiting, watching Bakugou's face in the gloom. The whites of his eyes were visible around his pupils as he stared into the darkness.

"I think it's fine," Todoroki said at last, turning to go back into the bathroom. "It's probably just letting us know it's nighttime."

"'Fine'?" Bakugou hisses. "What do you mean, _fine_?"

Iida stands there, his arms wrapped around himself. He still feels on high-alert, and slightly sick. "Please leave the door open, Todoroki," he says, not wanting to be in full darkness. What he _wants_ to do is go into the bathroom too, hide out in there, in the light, because he still doesn't know what might happen in this dark room - for all they know someone might warp in at any time.

Todoroki nods and reenters the bathroom, and Iida makes his way back to his cot, where he sits hunched over, keeping his eye on the bathroom door. He regrets moving the cots away from Todoroki's corner now. In the light, the extra space and privacy felt better, but now he wants to huddle together with the others, hear their breathing, know they're there beside him if he gets attacked. He isn't sure how to express that, though. To simply go back to Todoroki's space after he went through all the trouble of leaving it would seem silly and immature, but he's considering it.

When Todoroki comes back out again, Iida meets him at the entrance to the bathroom. "Todoroki," he says, "are you planning to sleep?"

He can't make out Todoroki's expression in the darkness. "I guess so," he says, his voice level. "I don't know what else to do."

"Do you think one of us should keep watch?" Iida asks.

Bakugou's suddenly beside them. Iida didn't notice him approaching, and jumps with fright. He's half expecting to be mocked for his skittishness, but Bakugou only says, "I'm spending the night in the bathroom."

"No," Todoroki says. "I don't want you in there if I have to use it."

"Well, tough shit," Bakugou says, but his voice is quieter than Iida is expecting, and it doesn't have its typical bite. "I'll stay in the shower or something, and you can close the curtain."

Todoroki stares at him for a long second, then nods. "That's fine." He heads in the direction of his own cot, and beyond that, Iida isn't sure what he does; he is lost in the darkness.

Alone, standing at the edge of the light, Iida doesn't know what to do. He hangs around near the bathroom door for a while, intermittently sitting and standing, until he hears Bakugou's voice: "Just come inside already."

Thankful, Iida rushes in. Bakugou isn't actually in the shower as he told Todoroki he'd be, but wedged between the shower and the toilet, looking as pale as Iida has ever seen him, glassy-eyed and covered in a thin sheen of sweat. "Don't give a fuck what Half-and-Half says," Bakugou tells him, staring blankly at the wall. "It's too dark out there. Gives me the creeps."

Iida nods. "I feel precisely the same. We don't know what Quirks our captors may have. It seems foolish to stay in the darkness when we may be attacked at any moment. Frankly, I don't understand how Todoroki can be so relaxed in this situation."

Bakugou looks at him then, pausing a moment before speaking. "He isn't relaxed."

Iida is taken aback. He's still unnerved by this softer-spoken, more honest version of Bakugou; he can't recall a conversation where the two of them have ever said this many words to each other without insults. If someone had asked him, before all this, who he thought would be a greater help and comfort in a hostage situation, Todoroki or Bakugou, he would have said Todoroki, but he has since changed his mind, and isn't sure how to cope with that. "What do you mean?"

"He's not relaxed," Bakugou says again, then adds, "He keeps starting shit with me because he's freaking out, and he doesn't know what else to do."

"Oh," Iida says. He has no way of knowing whether this is true, but Bakugou seems confident it is, at least. And it makes more sense that Todoroki would also be panicking, even if he is showing it in a way Iida doesn't understand. "I see. That seems rather… impolite of him."

Bakugou laughs harshly. "You think? God, I hate that guy."

Iida stares at the white tile floor, not knowing what to say, but infinitely glad for Bakugou's candor. He does not think he could bear it if both of his companions had decided to ignore him and go to sleep. They stay like that for a while, silent, each lost in his own thoughts, until Iida realizes he's beginning to drift off.

"I'm going to sleep here too," he says, the decision coming in the spur of the moment, and he goes out to get his blankets and the thin pillow from his cot – the cot itself won't fit, not without entirely blocking access to the sink and toilet, so he'll make do.

He spreads his damp towel in the shower and lies down on it. He gets damp too, but he doesn't really care; the air is a comfortable room temperature, still a little steamy from Todoroki's shower, and he's got the blanket to keep him warm. It's much too small a space to spread out, so Iida has to curl up on his side, his head pressed against the shower wall at an awkward angle. But he strongly suspects, from the fear in Bakugou's eyes when the lights went out, that the other man will be here all night, whether asleep or awake; for Iida to know he's not alone brings him peace of mind beyond words.

He does fall asleep, in the end, though it is restless; his dreams are fragmented, interrupted over and over again as he struggles to get into a comfortable position. His body is still on high alert; every time he wakes he tenses all over, wondering if this is it, if they've finally come to kill them. But every time, Iida needs only to lift his head and see Bakugou, staring off into space, or picking at a seam in his shirt, or doing crunches, to know he's safe, and to slowly drift back off once more.


	2. Chapter 2

The bathroom light brightens abruptly again hours later. Iida's first impulse is to think of it as morning and the lights-off time as night, but he has no idea if that's correct or if they're being messed with. For all he knows, the schedule set by their captors could be a full twelve hours off.

Through the open door, Iida can see that the lights in the room with the cots were also turned back on. Beside him, Bakugou is still awake, his eyes red-rimmed. "You can sleep now," Iida says, standing and stretching. "I'll keep watch."

"Don't wanna sleep," Bakugou says, but he stands too.

"You should," Iida tells him. As they exit the bathroom, he sees Todoroki is only just waking up – he has slept the entire night through. Then Iida notices something in the center of the room and stops abruptly, Bakugou almost running into him. "What are you…?"

He points, wordless, at the things that were certainly not there before the room went dark. There's food – bags of chips, crackers, cured meat, dried fruit. Beneath them is a stack of magazines, and to the side is a pile of neatly-folded clothing. Iida runs over and looks through everything, confused and breathless.

The magazines seem like the sort that might be in a waiting room, or maybe a library. It's a strange selection – men's and women's health, childrearing, fashion, celebrity gossip, cooking, interior design, animal care. They are a bit tattered, as if they are secondhand, but there is no information about where they may have come from, no delivery address or subscriber name.

The clothing consists of underwear, socks, and three identical blue sweatsuits. They felt cheap but new, and as Iida examined them he thought they smelled a little plasticky, like they'd just been unwrapped from packaging.

Bakugou crouches down beside him. "What the fuck," he says, and Iida notices Todoroki standing near them too, his eyes wide, his mouth slightly open.

Iida recovers first, swallows down his shock and begins to divide everything into equal thirds. The magazines they can all share, of course. He hands out the clothing too - there is one of everything for each of them - but he isn't sure he wants to wear his set, at least not until he looks over it carefully.

"They came in here during the night, left this shit on the floor, and you didn't even _notice_?" Bakugou says, standing and turning to Todoroki. "You just slept through it?"

Todoroki blinks, saying nothing, just staring down at the things on the floor as if he can't quite believe they're really there.

"Fucking useless," Bakugou says, and turns away.

Iida puts each of their food rations and outfits on their respective beds. He gets his glass of water from the bathroom – there were three glasses to begin with, luckily, so they don't have to share those – and fills it, then returns to his cot to eat. He starts with the dried fruit, and is halfway through the bag of chips before he realizes this might be all the food they receive the entire day. He forces himself to stop eating and heads to the center of the room, where the magazines are still lying.

As Iida pages through them, he can't help but think they all look so… normal. There's no pattern he can grasp, no sign of a plan, no code being transmitted. The newest issues are a month or so old, the oldest from years ago.

"They want to keep us entertained," Iida says, speaking to the others but also to himself. He spreads all the magazines out, face-up, grouping them roughly by topic. "I assume that's the purpose of this. They've got the essentials, but more as well. This…"

_This is a long-term thing_, he's thinking, but he's afraid to say it. It means their lives are probably safe, though, at least for now; it would be odd for anyone to go through all this effort for people they intend to kill.

The others are still eating. Todoroki's nibbling on his fruit in a way that's almost dainty, while Bakugou's nearly done with everything; there's a pile of wrappers on the ground beside his cot. Iida lies on the floor, belly-down with his chin propped up on one hand, and decides he might as well read. He picks a men's health magazine first and starts at the beginning. After a few minutes Todoroki joins him. Bakugou eventually walks over, grabs a couple of magazines, and brings them back to his cot.

"Please bring them back when you're done with them," Iida tells him, and Bakugou grunts.

That's how they end up spending the day. Iida is a fast reader, but he slows himself down intentionally to make the reading materials last. After the men's magazine, he reads the women's health, the interior design, and then all the rest, one by one. Even the celebrity gossip magazines, which would be boring to him even if they weren't outdated, he reads with the same care and thoroughness.

Iida's prediction that no more food would be delivered turns out to be right. It's bearable, though, because of his foresight; he snacks throughout the day, in a state of perpetual mild hunger. Todoroki has the same idea, and they both eat as they read side by side on the floor, their wrappers thrown together in one large pile next to the magazines.

Bakugou did not ration his food. When hours pass and they get no more, Iida knows he must be hungry, but he says nothing. Iida does not offer him food, because he is sure Bakugou would not take it, but he still feels for him. If it was anyone else Iida would gladly offer, because anyone else would most likely accept.

Iida's only sense of time is his body's reactions – when he gets thirsty or hungry or, much later, sleepy. Besides abruptly turning off and on, the brightness of the room's lights don't change. When he starts getting the feeling it's evening, he gets an uncomfortable feeling of anticipation, knowing the lights might turn off any minute but not knowing precisely when. He still remembers the shock of that from the night before, the feeling of breathless terror at not knowing what or who else was there, lurking with them in the darkness. And with the knowledge that someone _was _in the room with them during the night...

As soon as he begins thinking it's close to the time the lights turned off the day before, Iida goes into the bathroom, carrying his new set of clothes. He looks them over as carefully as he can, turning them inside and out, smelling them, pulling on the fabric, rolling it between his fingers, unsure what he's even looking for. But nothing catches his eye; he can't see anything out of the ordinary about them. So after he showers – taking only slightly less time than he did the night before – he puts the new set on, folds up his dirty clothes and tucks them under his cot. The walk from bathroom to bed makes it very clear that the sweatpants are not made for a person with legs like his, so he has to actually tear them – they are too tight otherwise. Luckily the materials are flimsy, and it tears open right along the seams.

"I'm done, if anyone wants to shower," Iida says – probably unnecessarily, but now, for some reason, the silence bothers him. After a nearly wordless day, he wants a response, a conversation, _something _from the other two. Todoroki is still sprawled on the floor reading, and Bakugou, apparently done with all the magazines already, is lying on his back on his cot, tearing his food wrappers into pieces.

"You changed into the clothes," Todoroki says, when he finally looks up.

"Yes. I looked them over beforehand, but I could find nothing that struck me as odd." He stops and sighs. He'd been about to say something very stupid, something like _I wish I knew more about our current situation_, because it was the thing first and foremost on his mind; but of _course _he wishes that, they _all _do. It would add nothing to the conversation. Iida walks over to his cot, sits down, and begins to play with the loose strings of fabric along the tear on his pants.

"I'm not going to shower tonight," Todoroki says. "Bakugou, if you want to, you can."

"Tch." Bakugou sits up. "I don't trust it."

"Iida and I both showered, and we didn't feel anything. Isn't that right, Iida?"

He shrugs. "If Bakugou doesn't want to shower, he doesn't have to."

Iida in different circumstances would have said: It's been two days or more without a shower, Bakugou! Consider it, for your comfort and ours!

But Iida in these circumstances can only think: If Bakugou doesn't want to shower, whether he doesn't trust it or has some other reasoning, it doesn't matter to me. I don't actually care if he showers or not.

Iida feels himself filled with such a feeling of complacency, of apathy, that it takes him completely by surprise. He can't remember just _not caring _in this way ever in his life.

The feeling is so troublesome to him that it makes him spring to his feet; he has to do _something _to shake it off. "I'm going to do stretches," he says, standing between the other two. "You are welcome to join if you wish!"

"Hold on a moment," Todoroki says, rising. "I'll change, too."

They begin a minute later when Todoroki's back from the bathroom, also wearing his sweatsuit. Bakugou stays on his bed the entire time and watches as Iida goes through all the stretches he's ever learned. Then Todoroki shows him a few, and they pull out the health magazines, which have a few more. Then, finally, the lights go out.

Iida has been thinking of this for hours, dreading it, but when it actually happens, he finds it's not so bad. "I guess that's that!" he says, almost cheerful, and gets to his feet, offering his hand to Todoroki, who he can dimly see by the light coming from the open bathroom door.

"Going to sleep out here again, Half-and-Half?" Bakugou asks, approaching them. "You weren't a very good guard last time."

Todoroki holds Bakugou's eyes a second, then blinks and looks down. "I'm not sure."

"Well, you can't sleep in the bathroom," Bakugou says, leering as he paraphrases Todoroki's words from the night before. "What if we have to use it in the night?"

"I'm perfectly aware that both of you spent the night in the bathroom," Todoroki says slowly. "It didn't matter, because I didn't need to use it. But if I need to tonight, I'm going to wake you both up and kick you out."

"I won't be sleeping there anymore," Iida says, and they both turn to look at him. They're expecting some kind of explanation, Iida knows, but he doesn't have much of one to offer. "I didn't sleep well, last night. I'll just move my cot closer to the light and sleep there instead. Perhaps sleeping in the dark is a risk, but I know I will suffer if I continue depriving myself of high-quality sleep."

Todoroki nods, Bakugou scoffs. Iida doesn't really care about either of their reactions. They are muddling blindly through this as much as he is, and Iida doesn't think any harm will come from letting himself relax. The part of him that wants to remain constantly on high alert is still there, of course, but it is smaller now; after last night, even the rickety cot would be a comfort. At least on a cot he'll be able to stretch his legs, and he won't get damp. So drags his cot right next to the entrance to the bathroom, positioning his head against the wall so he can survey the room, and lies down. Bakugou's in the bathroom again, but Iida doesn't know where Todoroki decides to sleep, because Iida is unconscious almost as soon as he shuts his eyes.

He wakes to a harsh metallic scraping sound and gasps, jumping to a sitting position. "Relax," Iida hears Bakugou say from beside him, "it's me." Bakugou's moving his own cot so it's next to his, he realizes, and relaxes with an exhale.

"You – you scared me," Iida says weakly. His heart is still beating faster than can be healthy, and he feels dizzy from how quickly he sat up.

"Sorry," Bakugou says, almost too quietly to hear. He flops down on the cot.

"I'm glad you're sleeping," Iida says at last. "Do you want me to keep watch?" Even as he offers it, he realizes he probably wouldn't be able to, with how exhausted he is.

By the dim light, Iida sees Bakugou shake his head. "Just go back to sleep," he says, and Iida is only too happy to comply.

* * *

He wakes again when the overhead lights turn on. Bakugou wakes then, too, and Iida is happy to see that: he wasn't actually sure Bakugou would sleep at all. Todoroki's cot is still in the same place, and between them all, on the floor in the center of the room, is a pile of more food and clothes.

They all scramble to their feet. "The wrappers are gone," Todoroki says.

"And my old clothes!" Iida says, peering under his bed.

"Mine too," Todoroki says.

They all meet at the center of the room, next to the pile. "Only two sets of clothes," Iida remarks, "but the ones Bakugou didn't wear yesterday are still where he left them."

Something about that is vaguely ominous to Iida. He isn't sure why; of course, anyone could obviously see that Bakugou's clean clothes are untouched. It doesn't mean they are necessarily being watched all the time. But it's a possibility - and someone's _definitely _sneaking into their room every night and cleaning up after them. It's unsettling that his captors know everything about Iida, but that he himself knows nothing at all.

Then Iida notices one more thing - there are no new reading materials.

He's bitter as he divides the food. Their first day passed in a blur of panic, the second was spent reading everything; what is he supposed to do now?

Before they head their separate ways, Bakugou whispers, "I thought of something we can try."

Todoroki makes no sign that he can hear, but Iida looks at Bakugou and nods in acknowledgement, listening attentively.

"This floor's wood," Bakugou says. "If we plug the drains in the bathroom and run the water out here, maybe it will damage the floorboards enough that we can destroy them."

"And what?" Todoroki asks, not bothering to keep his voice low. "What then? Don't you think the lack of windows implies we're in a basement? Why do you think ruining the floor would lead to a way out?"

"It's something to try, at least," Iida says, and out of the corner of his eye he sees Bakugou look at him sharply.

Todoroki huffs. "Suit yourself," he says. "I'll sit this one out." He grabs all of the magazines, his set of clean clothes, and his share of the food, setting everything on top of his cot and sitting down there. Iida's almost certain Todoroki's gone through every single magazine, just as he himself has, but he still picks up one of them and starts to read it, or at least pretends to.

Iida and Bakugou head into the bathroom. "Nice of them to give us all these things to plug the drains with," Bakugou says, still speaking in that conspiratorial whisper. Iida understands why; he can't shake the feeling that someone is watching them all the time, and listening in too. The idea of this strange, destructive plan fills him with fear, but he shakes it off. So what if flooding everything makes their captors mad? Maybe Iida will finally get to meet whoever's keeping him captive here. He has more than a few questions for them.

Iida pries the grate off the shower drain and stuffs a towel down it. Bakugou does the same to the sink using a washcloth. Then they look at each other, as if both waiting for the other to give a signal. Iida starts the shower first, Bakugou follows with the sink a second later, and they both grin. Iida's almost laughing with the stupid perverse joy of it. He's never done something this intentionally destructive, but he's never been this angry before, either.

They could probably do more if they messed with the toilet, too, but Iida _really _doesn't want to mess with the toilet, and Bakugou doesn't bring it up. They leave the bathroom and go to their cots, peeking into the bathroom every now and then to see how things are progressing.

"Well, they're certainly flooding," Iida says, after a few minutes. The shower isn't a full bath, so it has only a lip a few inches high to keep the water in, and he watches, breathless, as it's breached. The sink starts pouring out a few minutes later.

They watch, and wait. Iida hears a strange sound behind him, and realizes Todoroki's ripping the magazine pages, tearing them into squares which he proceeds to fold into paper cranes.

"Destroying our reading material, Half-and-Half?" Bakugou says. "You didn't even ask if we've finished that one yet."

Todoroki glances at the cover. It's the women's health magazine. "I assumed we have all read all of them," he says, voice steady. "And, considering what you're doing at the moment, you certainly aren't one to talk about destroying things. But if you wish, I'm sure Iida would be willing to divide the magazines up amongst the three of us, and you could destroy some as well."

"I'm not just wrecking shit for the fun of it," Bakugou says. "This has a purpose, unlike your little origami chickens."

Todoroki's hands still. "Your plan has as much purpose as my _chickens_," he says, after a long pause. "Do you really think it has a chance?"

"It's better than -"

"Better than nothing? I'm not sure, actually. I think it's about the same. Whoever's kidnapped us has been extremely careful about everything so far. Do you think they'd let us have a sink and shower and toilet if there was _any _risk of us using them to escape?"

The words hit Iida like a physical blow. As soon as they're said, he knows they're true.

"Literally the only thing you are accomplishing is making our living space more unpleasant, and possibly angering our captors, which, most likely, will result in our bathroom being taken away. Would you rather we be given buckets to use instead?"

"Shut the fuck up," Bakugou says, standing. By now, the water's passed the door frame and spreads little by little over the wood of the floor.

"I wish it was anyone but you," Todoroki says, standing too, and for the first time there is real venom in his voice, a tone Iida hasn't heard from him ever before. "I would rather be alone than be here with you."

"Same," Bakugou says, teeth bared.

"Really? That's surprising. I was half expecting you to come crying to me last night-"

Bakugou punches him in the face. It looks like Todoroki's expecting it, though; it hits, but Todoroki manages to roll with it, so the blow is glancing. Then Bakugou jumps on him, throwing them both to the ground, where they're punching and clawing at each other, pulling at each other's clothing, Bakugou shouting words Iida can't make out.

And Iida…

Iida just lets them fight.

He doesn't care anymore. He doesn't even care enough to watch. He turns away to gaze at the steadily growing puddle of water. Within a minute it will reach where they're lying on the floor. He's still sitting safely atop his cot, though, which means it will be a very long time before he needs to worry about getting wet.

Bakugou and Todoroki split apart when the water touches them, scrambling to the islands of their cots. Iida opens a bag of chips and watches the dry floor space shrink.

The worst thing about this decision, he thinks, is the space it removes. Their two rooms have just become unimaginably smaller, shrunk down to the size of their cots. Iida can't sit on the ground and do stretches, and the only place in the bathroom that's dry now is the toilet. They can't go anywhere without getting wet.

But even though it wasn't his idea, Iida has to take some responsibility. He went along with it, of course. He helped, gleefully - he can't believe the his strange excitement at the idea of wrecking a floor, even though it wasn't even an hour ago - and he's just as much to blame as Bakugou is for the discomfort they've created.

When the water is spread out across the entirety of the larger room, Iida decides to shut the taps off. He takes off his socks and makes his way over to the bathroom. The scene feels surreal to him, as he stops the water and unplugs the sink drain. All of a sudden the white noise that's been filling his ears all morning is gone; everything is calm and quiet save for the splashing of his footsteps.

He flops onto his cot. "What now?" he says to Bakugou.

"We… wait, I guess." He's lying down on his stomach too, his head resting on his folded arms. "Let it soak in and shit."

Iida tries to nap, without luck. He daydreams, but everything comes back to their predicament. He cannot think of anything else, cannot think of his friends and coworkers, can only think of how trapped they are and how hopeless everything feels to him. After trying for a while, he gets up again and makes his way over to Todoroki's cot.

"Teach me how to make paper cranes," he says. "Please."

Todoroki brightens at that; the change is subtle, but Iida knows him well enough to pick up on it, the newfound energy in his movements, the clearing of his furrowed brow. Iida watches carefully as Todoroki shows him how to tear the paper into a square without damaging it and, step by step, how to fold that square into a crane. When he tries it himself, Iida finds that he's bad and slow at it, and is delighted; that means it will take him more time to master. Once he's finally got the steps down, he takes a magazine back to his own cot and begins to fold.

Iida finds joy in making those cranes. They take his full concentration, at least at first. Even just tearing the paper into squares is somehow fun - an act of destruction, just very neat and tidy. The sound the paper makes as he rips it is satisfying. For an hour, maybe an hour and a half, Iida is content.

But it cannot keep him entertained forever, and he feels his attention slipping. He takes a break and eats some of his food. When he glances at the others, he sees that Todoroki is still folding away, but Bakugou's attention is on them, flicking back and forth between Iida and Todoroki.

"How long do you think it will take to affect the floor, Bakugou?" Iida asks, peering downwards. It's hard to tell whether anything's different. Iida doesn't think the water has had any effect yet, but he isn't sure what to look for.

Bakugou takes off his socks and stands. He tried to fold up the hems of his jeans, Iida sees, but the folds come undone as soon as he's on his feet, and they immediately start to soak up water. Bakugou leans over and puts his hands on the ground, pressing the boards, feeling them. "Not sure," he says, then straightens to look at Iida. "We can keep checking."

Iida nods. Then to his surprise Bakugou makes his way over to Iida's cot, sitting on it next to him with his feet in the water. "Teach me," he says, and Iida realizes he's referring to the cranes.

"I'm still not very good," Iida says, gesturing to his flock of sad, misshapen birds. "Todoroki's far better."

"I'm not asking him," Bakugou says, "I'm asking you. But if you don't wanna…"

"No!" Suddenly Iida realizes that Bakugou is, in a way, doing him a favor, one he doesn't want to spurn. "I do want to. Let me show you."

Bakugou is polite to him, and legitimately interested; he's somehow even worse at origami than Iida, who laughs at Bakugou's half-hearted, lopsided attempts until he has tears in his eyes. Bakugou acts mock-offended, but he can't keep a straight face either, and he ends up throwing all of his creations into the water, one at a time. "A mercy kill," he says.

By then another hour or so has passed. They look at the floor again: it doesn't look any different, and doesn't seem to have warped at all. "Maybe we should run more water," Bakugou suggests. "The weight might cause the floor to collapse."

Iida shrugs. "If you want." He doesn't care what Bakugou does, but he doesn't feel like helping him. Todoroki is right, anyways - it's all pointless. Iida wants nothing more than to get caught up in something again, to forget their circumstances, but the list of things he can do is growing smaller and smaller. He ends up trying to nap while Bakugou starts the water running again, but he never ends up falling asleep.

The water's nearly reached the edge of his cot when it stops. The shower and sink have shut off. Iida raises his head and looks at the others; they are both on their cots too. No one is near the bathroom. Someone else must have shut it off.

"Fuck," Bakugou breathes, and leaps to his feet. The water's halfway up his calves, soaking his jeans, but he doesn't even seem to notice. "I know you're watching!" he screams, turning to face first one wall, then another. "I know you can see me! I know you can hear me!"

Iida and Todoroki watch, silent.

"Come out!" Bakugou goes on, his voice filling up the small space and physically hurting Iida's ears. "Get your ass out here! You're hiding like cowards. Tell us what you want!"

Nothing.

"Get out here!" But Bakugou seems to know it's hopeless; his voice cracks as he speaks. "What do you _want_?"

"Bakugou," Todoroki says.

"What!" Bakugou spins around to face him, taking steps over to his corner. "What?"

"Just stop. It's pointless."

"You said yourself they, they were careful, they wouldn't let us do anything that might threaten them," Bakugou says. He gestures to the water-covered floor. "They stopped us. They finally stopped us! You know this means they actually felt threatened!"

Todoroki stares into his eyes, blinks once. "Maybe," he says. "But so much for _that_, right?"

"We must have been close," Bakugou says, a catch in his voice. "We must have been close…"

He stands there in front of Todoroki, silent, swaying a little, and Iida begins to worry he's going to collapse into the water. But he takes a few staggering steps back, turns and walks back to his own cot, where he collapses on his back, staring at the ceiling.

After a little while Todoroki goes to the bathroom and unclogs the shower drain. The water begins to disappear, but not all of it can because of the lip around the shower; in the end, they're stuck with a couple inches of it all over the floor. And all the water's been shut off; the sink and toilet don't work any more, either. If they want a drink they have to get it off the floor.

When he comes back from the bathroom, Todoroki gives Bakugou a look, an expression Iida's never seen from him before - utter hatred, far beyond his typical coolness and aloofness. Todoroki is _enraged_. And Bakugou doesn't even _see _the look; he's lying on his side and facing the wall. It is not for Bakugou's benefit, and something about that makes Iida afraid.

That night, it is almost a mercy when the lights turn off.

Something wakes Iida in the middle of the night - footsteps - someone walking through the water. From the bathroom light, though, he can see it's only Bakugou leaving his cot, and he relaxes. Then he realizes Bakugou is going in the opposite direction of the bathroom - he's heading towards Todoroki's cot, and Iida starts paying attention again.

There's a creak as Bakugou sits down, a gasp as Todoroki awakens. "You thought I'd come crawling back to you?" Bakugou says, just barely loud enough for Iida to make out the words across the room. "You thought I'd come begging for your comfort?"

"Isn't that what you're doing now?" Todoroki's voice is groggy, a little heavy with sleep.

"No!" Bakugou laughs. "No, I came here to do this!"

Probably he intends to shove Todoroki into the water, but he fails; Iida can't make out the details well in the dimness. He hears a grunt and a splash; they're both on their feet now, sparring like they did earlier, their footsteps loud as they circle one another.

Iida is tired. He's sick of it.

Neither of the others see him coming. He finds Bakugou, grabs him roughly by the arm, and yanks.

"That's _enough_," he says. He only means to tug Bakugou away, to break it up, but Bakugou's footing is already unstable; he falls, landing heavily on his side with a thump. Iida only barely avoids getting pulled down with him.

For a moment, there's complete and utter silence. Then Iida hears Todoroki murmur "Thank you," and make his way back to his own cot, where he sits warily, watching.

Bakugou stays on the ground. He rolls onto his back and lies there, just lies there, flat on the floor. Then he begins to cry.

Iida cannot bring himself to apologize. He didn't mean to throw Bakugou down, just to end the fight so he could get back to sleep, but he doesn't exactly regret it, considering it's what Bakugou was trying to do to Todoroki. Iida waits for the shout of rage, for Bakugou to throw them all bodily into the water with him, but there's nothing. Bakugou just continues to cry, his sobs ugly and harsh in the otherwise still room. After he finishes he falls silent, and eventually he stands, making his way back to his own cot. He must be soaked, Iida thinks, but he doesn't remove his wet clothing, just lies down and stares up at the ceiling.

After that, it takes a long, long time for Iida to fall back asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

When the lights turn on the next morning, all of the water is gone.

Iida springs to his feet, amazed. It was almost like it had never existed to begin with - but not _ quite_, he discovers, because there is still residue in the corners of the room and under the feet of his cot when he shifts it.

There is a new pile of things in the center of the room, but before he investigates it Iida goes to the bathroom and tests everything. The sink and toilet are running, but not the shower. Taped to it is a note:

**THANKS TO YOUR LITTLE ** **STUNT****, YOU'VE LOST YOUR SHOWER PRIVILEGES!**

It's written in black pen on plain printer paper, the handwriting neat and blocky, not offering much of a clue as to the writer's identity. Still, it feels significant to Iida: until this point, their captors have been wholly passive, not communicating with them in any meaningful way.

A second later the others join him in the bathroom. Bakugou takes the note down and reads it over, frowning. Iida's expecting him to tear it to pieces instantly, but instead he examines it, looking at it close up, peering at the ink and the tape like he might find a clue there. When he leaves the bathroom he carries it with him over to his cot.

There are new clothes at the center of the room, new food - and, best of all, new reading materials. There are _ books_. Iida's almost taken aback by how joyful that makes him feel. He starts paging through them immediately after he divides up the food.

They're novels, mostly. Mass-market paperbacks, the kind of books you buy for dirt-cheap even when they're new, and these ones are years old - but Iida can't bring himself to care, because all of a sudden just having them is the best thing he can imagine. There's ten of them - more than even he can read in one day. He tries not to think too hard about why so many were provided.

But before Iida can let himself read, he wants to do something physical. He would run if he could, but the room's far to small for anything more dramatic than pacing. Instead he sits on the floor, facing away from Bakugou and Todoroki, and goes through his stretching routine, drawing it out as much as possible. The tight quarters and lack of activity have made him stiff, and it feels good to push himself nearly to the point of pain.

When finally he finishes stretching, he stands and turns, and sees the others are both stretching as well. Todoroki is looking in Iida's direction - maybe he was along with his stretches - but Bakugou is pointedly facing a wall, as if to make it look like it was his own idea. Iida smiles and shakes his head, then picks up a book and begins to read.

Iida loves reading. He always has. Even in this situation, he can't help but love it still. The book he chooses is a foreign thriller, fifteen or twenty years old and a little outdated, but Iida finds himself enthralled nonetheless. He can shut out everything around him and think of nothing but the small universe in his hands.

So that day, Iida is content. He eats when he's hungry - the salty, greasy food is hard on his stomach, but it's better than nothing - and reads until his eyes hurt. Then he takes a break and reads some more after. He reads until the lights go out.

Then, suddenly, he realizes he cannot sleep.

He lies awake in his cot, staring blankly up at the ceiling, feeling quite possibly more awake than he has the entire span of his captivity. He grabs his book and decides to go read in the bathroom - the light's dim, but it should be possible.

When he reaches the bathroom, though, he sees Bakugou is already there. He's is sitting on the floor in the small gap between the toilet and the shower. He is still wearing his original clothing, Iida notices, and there is a noticeable smell coming off of him. Iida supposes that last part isn't entirely Bakugou's fault, although not showering for the two days _ before _their shower was turned off didn't help matters either.

"Hello, Bakugou," Iida says.

"Hi." Bakugou shifts where he's sitting, frowning, then something seems to click. "Oh, you wanna use the bathroom?"

"No," Iida says quickly, sitting cross-legged on the floor. "I was just going to read. You can stay."

Bakugou nods. His body is folded up, chin resting on his knees, and all of a sudden he seems very small.

"Bakugou," Iida says, then stops, unsure what he meant to say in the first place.

Bakugou looks at him, silent.

Something's wrong, Iida realizes. Bakugou isn't acting right. Shouldn't he be blustering, angry, telling Iida to get out of his space? Iida misses that fire, and doesn't like this strange complacency.

"Bakugou," Iida says again. "I'm sorry I pulled you down into the water last night. I didn't intend to do it - I just meant to stop you from fighting with Todoroki. But I'd like to apologize."

Bakugou nods. "It's okay."

And there it is again! Iida wants a reaction, not whatever _ this _is. He decides to keep poking until he gets one. "I notice you are still wearing your original clothing. Is there a reason you haven't changed into the clean clothing?"

"Why do you care?"

_ That's better_, Iida thinks. "Because this is the…" He pauses, counting in his head. "This is the fourth day you've been wearing those clothes. Although I understand you are unable to shower at the moment, some forms of proper hygiene are still possible. Your uncleanliness is noticeable even to me."

Bakugou looks blankly at him a moment, as if the words take a second to sink in. "You're… you're trying to say I smell bad?"

"Yes," Iida says. "I'm sure a large part of that is your clothing." In addition to the smell of Bakugou himself, he's taken on a slightly musty, mildewy odor, which Iida thinks might be caused by his fall into the water the night before. "Changing would be beneficial - and probably do a great deal for your personal comfort, too! I have to say, sleeping in jeans is not a good feeling. And if you wanted to go a step beyond, I noticed there are still washcloths and hand soap. You could attempt to clean yourself that way."

Bakugou's face takes on a look of utter disbelief. He laughs once, a sharp_ Ha! _ that Iida knows well. "You've got some fucking _ nerve _," he says, and Iida counts this as a victory, because finally the blank, vacant expression is gone.

"They're just suggestions," Iida says. "But I think we would all benefit."

Bakugou laughs again, looks Iida square in the face and says, "Tell me why I should care how I _ smell _."

"I know you _ do _care, Bakugou," Iida says. "I work with you. I know you typically shower daily. Obviously you have some concern for how others perceive you. Presumably you have less concern for how Todoroki and I perceive you, but even so, I'm a little surprised."

"So you're saying I should care because I normally care?"

"My argument is that you _ do _care, but you are neglecting yourself because of the current circumstances," Iida says. "I understand, but…"

"'Current circumstances,' huh," Bakugou cuts in. "You mean like the fact that we're kidnapped and trapped in a box and probably going to die?"

"Personally, I think the chances of us dying are quite slim," Iida says, projecting a bit more confidence than he feels. "If our captors wished us dead, they could have done it easily by now. All they would need to do is cut off our access to food and water. But, on the contrary, they have been doing their best to keep us _ alive _ \- they provide adequate food, water, beds, and even some entertainment. Therefore I find it most likely that we are yet needed for some purpose. Most likely they are seeking ransom money."

After Iida finishes speaking, the two of them look at each other for some time. Iida has no idea what is going through Bakugou's mind, and wonders if he's been assuming this whole time that their death was imminent. As far back as the first morning, Iida's had some idea that they were wanted alive for some reason. He figured the others were thinking the same thing.

"You think so?" Bakugou says at last.

"I do," Iida says. Then he lowers his voice. "Either the ransom will be paid or we will be rescued. I have no doubt of it. Most likely our captors have a Quirk that allowed them to trap us here and are taking advantage of that. I doubt their plans are more nefarious."

Oh, it's rich of him to say all that, considering he really has no idea. It _ sounds _ good out loud, but Iida is in the dark as much as the others. But Bakugou looks like he believes it; his face clears a little, and he sits up straighter.

"So you should care because this isn't permanent," Iida goes on. "How do you want to look when you walk out onto the street after we're safe? There might be news cameras, or at the very least our coworkers. Do you want…"

"I get the point," Bakugou says, and Iida thinks he sees the corner of his mouth curve up into something resembling a smile. "You talk too much."

"My apologies," Iida says, smiling too. He still has his book in his hand, but his mind isn't on it anymore. He feels like he might be tired enough to fall asleep, now; and Bakugou looks like he's doing better too. He gets to his feet. "I'm going to bed. Consider my words. And tomorrow…"

"Yeah?"

"Will you spar with me?" Iida strikes a pose, as if to illustrate his point. "As I recall, my hand to hand combat is stronger than yours, so perhaps I could teach you a thing or two."

"Fucking _ liar _," Bakugou says, getting to his feet. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"So you'll accept my challenge?" Iida says, grinning.

Bakugou mirrors his expression. "You're on."

* * *

They fight the next morning. Bakugou wants to go right away, but Iida insists they both eat first. "I won't fight an opponent who's not at his best," Iida says, and Bakugou growls and shoves a handful of dried fruit into his mouth. He's changed his clothing, Iida notices, now wearing the clean sweatsuit.

They square off in the center of the room, both barefoot. It's been a long time since he's done any sparring, Iida realizes; since becoming a pro hero, the majority of his fights are serious ones. But it comes back to him quickly enough. They size each other up, circling one another, feinting, neither one making a serious move on the other yet.

"Remember, there's no one to heal you if you get hurt," Bakugou says, sneering.

"Does that worry you? Do you want me to go easy on you?"

Bakugou narrows his eyes. "I won't fall for that sort of taunt so eas-"

Iida springs at him before Bakugou can finish the sentence. Iida's Quirk helps him in normal situations, of course, but even without it, Iida knows he's fast. Bakugou barely has time to dodge, certainly not enough time to counter. They spring apart again, neither having landed a move on the other yet.

Iida hears a click - the bathroom door closing. Apparently Todoroki isn't in the mood to watch their fight. "Don't mind Mr. Stick-Up-His-Ass," Bakugou says, gesturing, and Iida thinks that's a little bit hypocritical, considering how Bakugou's been the past few days - but he says nothing, just springs again.

Bakugou dodges and drives the heel of his hand up into Iida's chin. The force of the blow makes his teeth click, but he manages to avoid Bakugou's second hand and deliver a kick to the back of his knees. Bakugou stumbles, Iida lunges, taking his legs fully out from under him and watching as Bakugou tumbles to the floor.

"Damn it," Bakugou says, breathing heavily. "It's this damn shitty food they're giving us - it slows me down."

"I'm sure," Iida says, offering him a hand, which Bakugou ignores.

"Rematch?"

"Of course!"

They fight over and over again, until Iida can hardly stand. He's got Bakugou beat on speed, but Bakugou has far more endurance, it seems; the more they fight, the more Iida seems to lose. When he's so exhausted he can't get to his feet, he sits, panting, on the ground, and calls out, "Truce!"

"Truce?" Bakugou says, sitting down next to him. Iida is relieved to see he's similarly out of breath. "Can't believe you need a break. You've gone soft since your U.A. days."

"I think we both have," Iida says. "Personally, I think it's that damn shitty food they're giving us."

Bakugou stares at him a moment, then bursts out laughing. "You know," he says, "I used to think you had no sense of humor."

"Is that so?"

"You were so annoying back in school."

"_ I _ was annoying?" Iida says, putting a hand on his chest. "Me? How could you say such a hurtful thing?"

"See? You're less annoying when you know how fucking annoying you are," Bakugou says, slapping him roughly on the back. Coming from Bakugou, that's very nearly physical affection. "Glad you've mellowed out some, Glasses."

"We both have," Iida says. "If still had the personalities we had our first year at U.A., I doubt we'd be able to remain coworkers without daily physical altercations."

"Speaking of physical altercations," Bakugou says, "you ready for the next round?"

Iida groans. "You really want to keep sparring?"

"Come on, lazy-ass!"

"I'm not as young as I once was, Bakugou."

"You're twenty-one!"

"Go ask Todoroki," Iida says, and Bakugou freezes. Iida is instantly aware the mood's shifted.

"Todoroki…" Bakugou leans in, his voice a whisper. "Todoroki hates me."

"I… I'm getting that impression," Iida says. "But why?"

Bakugou glances over at the bathroom door. It's still shut, even though it's been an hour, give or take; apparently Todoroki did _ not _want to watch their sparring. "We had a thing," he says.

"Oh." _ Does he mean… _

"It ended badly," Bakugou says, and yes, Iida realizes, he _ does _ mean that kind of "thing". "Really badly."

"I had no idea," Iida says. "When was this?"

"It ended like three months ago. Lasted maybe six months."

So it had taken place during the duration of their time as coworkers, and Iida had never suspected a thing. He feels suddenly very dense. An entire relationship had been born, lived and died in front of him, and he'd been blind to it. "I'm sorry," Iida says, unsure how to respond to that information. He wants to know more, but to pry would be impolite.

"Doesn't matter. I'm over him," Bakugou says, which could hint at who dumped whom, Iida realizes. "Just sucks that we're stuck together."

"Things have certainly been tense."

"No shit." Bakugou runs a hand through his hair. "Working with him _ just _stopped being so damn weird, and now this…"

"Bakugou," Iida says, "isn't it considered improper to date a coworker?"

Bakugou shrugs. "Dunno. Don't care. You think that would have stopped either of us?"

"I suppose not." In fact, something being against the rules would probably make Bakugou want to do that thing even more. "I wonder if it _ is _against the rules, though."

"Would it stop you?"

Iida turns to look at Bakugou, confused. "What do you mean?"

"If you get feelings for someone, and they have feelings for you too, but you're coworkers and it's against the rules… What would you do?"

Iida frowns. "To be completely honest, this is a situation I've never considered before. But I - I'd like to think I'd follow the rules. Hopefully I could stop myself from becoming too attached to that person, but if absolutely necessary, one of us could transfer to another agency. I would only consider that if it was a very serious relationship."

Bakugou laughs. "Oh, _ man_, I can tell you've never dated. Am I right?"

"That's…" Iida bristles. "That's quite a personal question."

"Is it? Sorry - but I'm right, aren't I?"

"Yes," Iida says, feeling himself blush. "Yes, you are correct." He wonders what about his answer suggested that, or if Bakugou just knew it anyways, from gossip and their time as coworkers. "Well, there was that time with Uraraka, back in school-"

"Haha, yeah, didn't that last like a week?"

"Ten days." He sighs. "Never dated since."

All of a sudden the bathroom door flies open and Todoroki exits, a book in his hand. Iida flinches like he's been caught doing something against the rules, even though they'd already finished talking about Todoroki. He chides himself for acting so suspiciously.

"Well," Bakugou says, "for your sake, when we get outta here, I'm going to…"

"Don't finish that sentence!" Iida's torn between horror at the prospect of Bakugou setting him up on a date with someone, and gratefulness that he'd even offer. "I don't need your assistance!"

"I heard that heavy sigh, Glasses," Bakugou says. "You're _ lonely _!"

This is a far cry from the Bakugou of yesterday or the day before, Iida thinks, but he's glad. "And you," he says, getting to his feet, "didn't take my advice from yesterday."

"Hah? What are you talking about? I changed, didn't I?"

"You still stink!"

Bakugou bursts into surprised laughter. "God, I get the idea," he says. "I'll go… sponge-bathe myself, or whatever. Jeez."

Iida offers him an arm. This time Bakugou takes it, and Iida hoists him to his feet.

"You're not so fresh yourself," Bakugou says.

"Of course not. We were just sparring."

"_ Sure _," Bakugou says, rolling his eyes. "Damn hypocrite, you are."

Bakugou goes into the bathroom and shuts the door. As Iida grabs his novel and lies down on his cot, he finds himself tired but happy - happier than he's been since they were taken captive. Bakugou's energy is infectious, Iida thinks, smiling as he settles in to read.

* * *

That night, shortly after the lights go out, Bakugou walks up to Iida's cot and stands there. "Come to the bathroom," he murmurs, barely loud enough for Iida to hear, then leaves without any explanation.

When Iida does as Bakugou says, he's in his usual spot between the shower and the toilet, body folded up. "What's the matter?" Iida asks him, sitting on the floor nearby.

"Nothing's the matter," Bakugou says. "Just didn't feel like going to sleep."

_ He wants to talk, _ Iida realizes. _ He wants to talk to _ me _ . _The knowledge makes him feel special, although he isn't sure how warranted that feeling is; it's not like Todoroki's set a very high bar in Bakugou's heart, and there's no one else to fill the space.

"I understand," Iida says. "It's troublesome that we cannot control the lights ourselves and set our own sleeping schedule. Although I do appreciate having a clearly demarcated day and night, in a way." He thinks of how lost he'd feel if the lights were always on - or, worse, off.

"How long til we're out of here, Glasses," Bakugou says. He has his hands wrapped around his folded-up legs, and his chin resting on his knees. "I'm sick of this."

Bakugou isn't asking for his honest opinion, Iida knows. He's asking for reassurance. Iida does his best to deliver. "Soon," he says, projecting confidence into his voice. "Very soon."

"Yeah?"

"I'm certain of it," Iida says, nodding for emphasis. "Within forty-eight hours."

"Forty-eight hours," Bakugou says, sighing. "God, that's so long…"

"Don't whine," Iida says, poking Bakugou's arm. "Think of how long we've already endured. Forty-eight hours is nothing."

"Yeah, yeah…"

Iida pulled the number more or less out of thin air, but he knows he can sound authoritative when he needs to, and right now, he needs to. "You can do this," he says. "What do you want to do with your time during the next forty-eight hours?"

"Get out," Bakugou says, but Iida shakes his head.

"No. Before we get out. What are you going to do?"

"Uh." Bakugou stares at him. "Nothing?"

"Spar with me tomorrow," Iida says, although he knows his body will be complaining about that day's fighting soon enough - he's already tender with bruises - but at least thinking about physical pain stops him from thinking about worse things. Maybe it's the same with Bakugou.

"Okay."

"Then fold one hundred paper cranes."

Bakugou snorts. "I think I forgot how."

"I'll reteach you," Iida says. "I still remember."

"Okay."

"Then read one hundred pages of a novel."

"I don't wanna read," Bakugou says. "I'm sick of reading."

"Do it anyways."

"Ugh." He sighs, sounding like a petulant child. "_ Fine _."

There is still something off with Bakugou, Iida knows. He's clingy and needy: he's practically begging for Iida's attention, when normally he wouldn't give him the time of day. But that's clearly due to their confinement and the lack of meaningful social interaction Bakugou has gotten in that time. He won't be back to his normal self until they're out - none of them will be.

"You shouldn't stay up too late," Iida says. "Time will pass more quickly the more you sleep. It's like being on a long plane flight." And in a way it does remind him of that - not enough personal space, crappy food, no place to bathe, limited entertainment. At least with a plane flight, you knew when it would be over. "If you feel tired during the day, cover your eyes and try to sleep, even though the light's bright."

"Thanks for the advice, _ mom _," Bakugou says, but even though his tone is teasing, there's no edge to it, no malice.

"So go to sleep soon," Iida says. "Don't stay in here all night."

Bakugou meets his eyes. "I don't like being out there at night," he says, his voice low. "I don't like knowing that they…"

Iida knows what he means. Their captors walk amongst them, unseen, unheard; so far the only things they've left evidence of doing are benevolent, but who knows what they _ could _do?

"Take your blankets and sleep in here, then," Iida says. "Whatever is most comfortable."

"I don't want…" Bakugou stops, swallows, looks down. "I don't want to be alone."

Iida looks at him and feels sad. No, he feels _ angry _ \- angry at his captors for having reduced Bakugou to this, angry for everything they've done to all three of them. He cannot put it into words, but he feels like he could _ destroy _ something. If their captors were to appear in front of him at that moment, Iida knows he would struggle to control himself; his anger feels dangerous and potent.

He realizes he's staring at Bakugou, and Bakugou is staring back. A second later he also realizes he has tears in his eyes, and takes off his glasses to wipe them. Bakugou looks away, saying nothing.

"Sure," Iida says at last, his answer to the question Bakugou did not quite ask aloud. "Yeah. Let me get my blankets." He forces a smile. "Hopefully Todoroki doesn't need to come in here during the night."

"I'll just tell him to pee when we're in here. I don't care," Bakugou says, rising too. "We've both probably seen worse."

Iida giggles. He feels manic; he's positively thrumming with wild energy. He wants to sleep, but somehow also wants to scream. "Heck, we could take him on," Iida says. "Two on one? He'd stand no chance."

"_ That's _ what I like to hear," Bakugou says, thumping Iida on the back. "Good to see I'm a positive influence on you."

* * *

The bathroom is small, but they make it work. There's just enough space for them to lie side by side on the ground outside of the shower stall; Iida is glad he doesn't have to curl up in there again like the first night.

Both of them are lying with their feet by the door and their head near the shower, and the closeness is startling. Iida's not sure he's slept this close to anyone, ever. But at least Bakugou's not making things awkward; he seems more or less unfazed. "Try not to kick me in your sleep," he says. "That would hurt like a bitch, all the metal in your legs."

"I'll try," Iida says. The tile floor is hard beneath him, and he does not predict a restful night. Still, he can always take his own advice and sleep during the day, should that be required. "Not to mention, when someone kicks, I think the main risk is their feet, not their legs. You should be fine."

"If I'm all cut up tomorrow morning, I'm holding you accountable."

"Very well," Iida says, and Bakugou smiles.

"Do you think you can sleep like this?"

"I'm going to try," Iida says, shifting onto his back, trying to get comfortable. "You should try, too."

"Okay."

They both fall silent, speaking no more words for the rest of the night. Finding a comfortable position proves elusive, but Iida stays anyway, sleeping in short bursts like catnaps until stiffness wakes him again. He feels a loyalty to Bakugou. To leave him now and sleep in the other room would be a kind of betrayal.

Iida hopes desperately his guess of forty-eight hours is right. He isn't sure how much more of this he can stand.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I wish there was some way to respond personally to anonymous reviews, but since there is not, I want to give a shoutout to **Lo'lo**** -** thanks so much for your encouragement! I really appreciate it!


	4. Chapter 4

Iida wakes, bleary-eyed and groggy, when the lights brighten the next morning. Bakugou's still asleep, so he rises as silently as possible and heads to the other room. True to form, there are new clothes and fresh food, and he divides it all, this routine feeling almost normal to him by now.

He's sitting on his cot eating when Bakugou comes in, rubbing his eyes. "Spar?" he asks Iida, still looking half-asleep.

"Later," Iida says, mouth full. "Eat first."

Bakugou nods and tears open a bag of chips.

Iida's cot is against the wall where the bathroom door is, and he's sitting with his back to it. He is looking down, focusing on his food, when he notices a flicker of something out of the corner of his eye.

He lifts his head. The others are all still on their cots, oblivious. But in the middle of the wall in front of Iida, the wall directly opposite the bathroom, there is a door.

There wasn't a door there ten seconds ago.

Iida leaps to his feet and runs over. The others look up and, as soon as they see it too, join him.

The door looks identical to the one that leads to the bathroom, seemingly ordinary in every way. It was not installed overnight: Iida would have noticed it instantly, had it been there when he'd emerged from the bathroom. It has only just appeared - he can think of no other explanation.

Iida's torn only a moment, and glances at the others once, just to make sure they are at his side. Under normal circumstances he might hesitate to go through a door not knowing what lies on the other side, but he's terrified that this one might disappear, leaving him trapped; the unknown and all its risks are better than the same old two rooms.

Iida puts his hand on the knob and is relieved to find it's not an illusion. Then, shaking with excitement and nerves, he opens the door.

The door opens onto the foot of a staircase. It only leads up. To one side, before the staircase starts, is another door. He hesitates, wondering whether he should go up or to the side, when Bakugou reaches past him and throws the door wide open.

The room is small and empty - and very clearly a laundry room. There's a washer, a rack for hanging clothes, and an empty laundry basket on the floor.

"What the fuck," Bakugou mutters.

So up they go. Iida leads the way, more or less just because the stairs are narrow and he was the first one to step out of the door to begin with. There aren't that many steps, probably no more than twelve, but while climbing them the world seems to slow down until it feels like the trip up them has lasted for hours. As they climb they hear noises - indistinct voices and the muffled sound of what might be fighting in another room.

At the top of the stairs there are people - half a dozen or more police officers. As Iida watches, they lead three people out of a different room, one at a time - two men and one woman, their hands bound and eyes covered with tape, and that's when Iida realizes from whom that tape came, and feels a surge of joy.

"Sero?" he calls out, caution thrown to the wind.

That gets everyone's attention. The officers look over, and out of the other room darts Sero, dressed in his hero costume, eyes wide with surprise. "You guys!"

That's when it hits Iida, hits him for real - this is it, they're being rescued.

"Are you hurt at all?" Sero asks them, looking up and down each of them in turn.

"No," Iida says instantly. "None of us were injured."

"Good. Let's get you out of here." Sero turns toward the door. They are in someone's house, Iida thinks; it all looks so bizarrely normal. There's a couch and a television and a fridge and stove, and police officers swarming everywhere. "Follow me. We'll take you back to headquarters and explain everything."

"You can use your Quirk?" Bakugou asks him, still looking at the people being escorted out by the police.

"Try yours," Sero says.

Bakugou and Todoroki both do. There's a pop, a tongue of flame; they work without problem.

"Come on," Sero says again. "Let's go back. We can explain everything there."

* * *

The ride back feels a little like a dream to Iida. He keeps his eyes fixed firmly out the window, watching the changing scenery in a sort of haze. Nothing around him quite feels real. Mentally, he is still in captivity, planning for his sparring match with Bakugou and thinking of the novel he's halfway through.

Sero takes them back to their agency's headquarters. Before they can even catch their breath, they're brought into a room for a debriefing, along with their boss and someone Iida vaguely recognizes as a police detective, a man he's worked with once or twice before.

"Here's what we're going to do," the detective says. "First, we're going to talk to each of you separately, one on one, and get your stories. Then you're going to talk to a doctor - I know you said you weren't injured, but we want to make sure. Then, after that, we'll catch you up on everything. That sound fine?"

Fujita, their boss, looks at Bakugou as if she's expecting a protest, but he only shrugs and looks down at the table. "It's fine," Iida says, speaking for all of them.

They're sent to separate rooms, each with a police officer to conduct the interview. The one in the room with Iida records everything, taking notes every now and then, but doesn't ask many questions; mostly Iida just talks and talks. The officer says to tell him the entire story, so Iida starts at what he can remember from the day he was kidnapped - brushing his teeth in the morning, then getting a phone call - and describes their entire time in captivity in as much detail as he can recall. The only parts he leaves out are the contents of the private conversations he had with Bakugou and Todoroki, the squabbles, the fights.

It takes him a long time, and Iida feels lightheaded when he's done; but somehow, to tell the story makes the fact that it is all over sink in a little more.

Next he's brought to the doctor, who takes his vitals in near silence. Iida's weight is the same, but the doctor tells him he's probably lost some muscle mass, even though his captivity didn't last that many days. Then he hands Iida a bag - clothing from Iida's own closet, he realizes, along with a pair of shoes. Fujita, has a copy of his key for things like this; Iida is especially grateful for the shoes, because he has nothing on his feet but socks.

He changes and the doctor takes the sweatsuit when he is done. Iida feels strange watching his still-warm clothing be put into an evidence bag - even the socks and underwear.

Finally Iida is allowed to return to the others. He finds them all in the same debriefing room as before, seated around a circular table; he is the last to arrive. He expects a quip from Bakugou, something about how slow he is and how long they've all been waiting, but there's nothing, just that same oppressive silence as he'd gotten from the doctor. It's beginning to grate on Iida's nerves.

"Alright," the detective says, putting his hands atop the table and lacing his fingers together. "I greatly appreciate your cooperation, and I'm sure you're eager to learn about everything."

Iida nods. The others, sitting on either side of him, are still.

"You were targeted because you were heroes from this particular agency, but they got you all when you were off duty," he says. "We don't know exactly how they did it. Possibly they'd been stalking you for a while, waiting for an opportunity - we're not sure. Hopefully we'll know more after we question them.

"You're probably wondering how they incapacitated you in the first place," he went on. "They used a combination of drugs and Quirks. The drugs were, as far as we could tell, only applied once, at the beginning. They rendered you unconscious and had the side effect of erasing your short-term memory, which is why none of you remembered any of what happened on Wednesday morning.

"As for the Quirk - two of your captors were women, a pair of sisters. They both have the same Quirk. We don't know the name of it or what it does exactly, but it seems to be built upon deception. It made…" He pauses to take a drink of water from a glass in front of him. "It seems to have been strong enough to have convinced all three of you the room had no way out, and that you were all unable to use your Quirks."

"So," Bakugou says blankly, "we - we actually were able to use our Quirks?"

"I'm not sure exactly how their Quirk works," the man says. "We haven't spoken with the suspects yet." Iida thinks "suspects" is a bit of a weak word to use when the police caught them red-handed, but he says nothing. "It seems like the women may have been taking shifts, so one of them was always there with you. The Quirk required a close proximity, and they were in the room directly above the one where you spent your captivity."

Something occurs to Iida. "You said there were two women with the Quirk, sisters. But I only saw them bringing out one."

"We caught the other one too," the detective says quickly. "Caught her first, actually. Don't worry."

Iida can actually feel himself relax at those words.

"What was their motive?" Todoroki asks, his voice low.

"Money, looks like." The detective takes another sip of water and turns to their boss to confirm. "Fujita received a ransom demand the evening of your abduction. She communicated with the police, and we ended up paying them the ransom, but tracking them after they took the money."

"We thought probably they were going to release you anyways, but I didn't want to take that chance," Fujita says. Her face is pale, her eyes dark-circled; normally a commanding presence, she's as grim and wan as Iida's ever seen her.

"How did you know we were still alive?" Todoroki asks. "Did you demand any kind of proof?"

Fujita and the police detective make eye contact. Both hesitate: Fujita bites her lip, the detective takes yet another sip of water. They're stalling, and it sends chills up Iida's spine.

"I mentioned they used a Quirk to hide the door from you," the detective says at last. "They seemed to also use it to hide the presence of a camera in the room."

"They sent us a livestream," Fujita says.

Iida does not comprehend this for at least three seconds. When it finally sinks in, he feels sick.

"It was only one camera, without sound," she adds quickly, "and it was in the bigger room, not the bathroom. So we could only really see you during the daytime. That's why we waited until just after the lights turned on today - we had to make sure you were all still alive and hadn't been moved to a different location."

The door had "appeared" just a minute or two after Bakugou had emerged from the bathroom that morning. In that short time, Sero and the police must have broken into the hideout and incapacitated the Quirk-user. It was remarkably efficient work on their part.

Iida can feel the realization of Fujita's statement threatening to sink in.

They sent us a livestream…

"The livestream," Iida says. "Was it… public?"

"Oh, no," the detective says. "It was only viewable to those with the link."

"Who had the link?"

"The police, Fujita…"

"And that's it," Fujita says quickly. "I didn't share it with anyone. I would…" She glances at Iida, and he wonders if she's embarrassed to talk about this. "I would show others when we discussed it, and I had someone monitoring it nearly all the time to make sure nothing happened to you all, but I didn't hand the link out to anyone. No one could access it unless I showed them."

Iida closes his eyes for a moment. He didn't sleep well the night before, and while the adrenaline from their escape had been holding him through until now, he's beginning to feel his exhaustion catching up with him.

"Any other questions?" Fujita asks them. "If not, we can discuss this more later."

"I will have more questions for you," Iida tells her, growing frustrated with his own sluggish brain. "I just can't think of them at the moment."

"That's fine." Her voice is gentle, laced with something that might be pity. "Look, the three of you are going to take at least a week off from work. Don't even turn your work phones on during that time. Actually," she says, her tone turning more businesslike, "that reminds me. You all lost phones when you were taken. Iida, you had your work phone on you, but not your personal - Bakugou, your personal, but not your work. Todoroki, you had both. We tried using the GPS in Todoroki's and Iida's phones to track you, but it seems like the phones were turned off or destroyed pretty much right away.

"Iida and Todoroki," Fujita goes on, "I'll give you your new work phones today, but, like I said, leave them off. I don't want you thinking about work at all. Get yourselves back in shape, get back into the swing of things - if you need longer than a week, let me know."

Todoroki nods once, eyes clear and gaze steady; Bakugou looks as tired as Iida feels, and he hardly reacts to their boss's words. "That's fine," Iida says, feeling like he is speaking for both himself and Bakugou. "Thank you."

The detective gets each of their phone numbers before giving them his business card, telling them to call him if they remember anything else. They get their new phones, and then they're free to go. Fujita offers to have someone drive Iida home, but he would feel silly taking her up on it - his apartment is only two subway stops away.

Iida has always been more or less neutral on public transportation, typically swayed one way or another by the loudness of the traincar he ends up in; but even though the people around him this day are quiet enough and polite enough, just being in their midst is overwhelming. The entire ride he feels like he cannot catch his breath, and to climb off the train and make his way up into the open air afterwards gives him a bone-deep sense of relief.

His apartment is the same as he remembers it. The milk's past its expiration date and the bananas have gone brown, but everything else is still fine. His bread isn't even stale. Iida knows he hasn't been gone that long, but he feels like things should be more different than they are - like his entire apartment should be dust-covered and broken by the passage of time. How is it that he can flop down on his futon like nothing's happened?

He naps, showers, naps more. He knows it will screw up his sleeping schedule, but can't bring himself to care. Nothing's sunk in yet. Finally, when he really truly cannot sleep any longer, he works up the nerve to leave his apartment and go to the grocery store.

Iida normally takes the bus, but today he walks. The air is pleasantly warm on his skin; it is mid-summer and the sun sets late, the pavement retaining its heat into the night. On the way to the store, he is so overcome he nearly begins to cry. People pass him by without a second glance, and he rubs his eyes and breathes in the night air. The scent of the city is familiar and calming.

When Iida gets back to his apartment, he finally thinks to check his personal phone. It's dead, unsurprisingly; he's just glad it wasn't taken. The others have to buy new ones, something Iida really doesn't want to worry about.

He turns it on and is going through recent messages when something occurs to him. He checks his call history and, yes, he received a call on Wednesday morning. It was from Midoriya, and apparently the call lasted about fifteen minutes. Repeatedly thinking about the call he barely remembers receiving has made it less clear in his mind, and he's not sure how much is actually true and how much is just his brain filling in the details.

He pushes the Call button. It's picked up on the first ring. "Iida, is that you?"

"Yes, it's me."

"Oh my God," Midoriya says, words spilling out all at once, "oh my God, I was watching the news, I just saw a little bit ago that you're safe - I was worried sick - you and Todoroki and Kacchan - I'm so glad…"

Iida clears his throat. "Midoriya, Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course!"

"When you called me that morning, Wednesday morning, what did we talk about?"

"What do you mean? Do you - Iida, do you have amnesia? Did your memory get wiped?"

"I - I suppose," Iida says, not knowing exactly how much of this he's allowed to talk about. "Only for part of that day though. I remember getting a call, so I checked my phone and saw it was you, but I can't remember what we talked about. I'm sorry, Midoriya."

"It's okay!" Midoriya says, his voice cheerful and worried all at once. "Um, let me think... I called you just to see how it was going. We hadn't talked in a long time, you know? So I just wanted to see how things were for you, what was new. We talked about work…" He laughs, and his voice sounds strange. Iida wonders if he's near tears. "It's hard to think of that phone call when so much has happened since then!"

"It's fine. It's not important," Iida says. "Thank you."

"Can I help you with anything else? Do you - do you need anything? I can bring over groceries - or if you feel unsafe you can spend the night-"

"No, no, it's fine," Iida says quickly. Midoriya lives across the city, but Iida has no doubt that if he were to say he does need something, he would gladly make the trek. But Iida doesn't want to take advantage of his kindness. "I'm fine."

"Let me know, okay? Seriously, I'm here for you! Just send me a text or call me or whatever. I'll get back to you as soon as I can!"

"Thank you," Iida says, and he means it. Midoriya's loyalty is wholehearted, and it's good to know he's there for Iida. "I appreciate it."

"No problem!"

"I - I'll talk to you later." He hates ending phone calls. It always makes him feel rude. But he knows that with Midoriya, if he doesn't hang up first, no one ever will.

"Bye, Iida!"

"Goodbye."

Well, that's one mystery not solved, Iida thinks. He still doesn't know where he was or what he was doing when he was taken. Maybe he'll talk to Fujita about it - perhaps the police or the agency had at least tracked his cell phone location, and he can find out the "where," if not the "what".

Out of curiosity, Iida looks up news about the case. It was a big news item, which isn't surprising; three heroes being taken at once is a huge deal. But, from what he can tell, the press hasn't been given all the details: while they had been alerted that Iida, Bakugou and Todoroki were now safe, there is no mention of a ransom and no information about the perpetrators. The existence of the livestream does not seem to be public either.

After spending a few hours reading articles, it's the early hours of the morning and Iida is finally tired. He goes to bed, falling asleep surprisingly quickly despite his earlier naps.

Upon waking the next morning Iida thinks: I need to get back on track. If he does not, he will not be ready to go back to work even after a week off. The first, most obvious part of that is to get back in shape, so he does what he's longed to do for a week and goes for a run - a long one, pushing himself harder than he perhaps should. It leaves him red-faced and covered in sweat, but the ache in his legs is a good feeling, one he's missed.

After he gets home and showers, he thinks: what now?

He doesn't have to think long; his thoughts are interrupted by the ringing of his phone. It's an unidentified number, and he hesitates, wondering if it's a reporter. In the end he answers. "Hello?"

"Iida!" A woman's voice, cheerful and loud.

"Y-yes?"

"It's Ashido!"

Iida hasn't thought of her in a long time. She ended up at an agency in a different town altogether, he recalls, and lives over an hour away. "Hello," Iida says, a little wary, wondering if she's simply calling to make sure he's okay - it would be strange, though, considering they haven't spoken in over a year.

"So, I heard what happened," she says. "I mean, of course, right? You're probably sick of talking about it by now. Anyway, I decided to throw a party."

"A… a party?"

"Yeah," she says. Iida can hear the smile in her voice. "I really want you to come. Don't worry, it will be at Sero's apartment - you don't have to come all the way out to mine."

"Oh," Iida says. He doesn't know what to say. "Why… why are you doing this?"

"Look," she she says, the smile gone, her tone becoming much more serious. "From the first day you guys were kidnapped, I was watching. Everyone was watching. Everyone from our class, I mean. Maybe everyone from U.A. And I thought: Oh my God, what if… what if they don't come back? What if this really is it? And obviously it all worked out for the best in the end, but if something had happened to you guys… I mean, look, I know I wasn't super close to you in school. I wasn't super close to Todoroki, either. But I love all of you, everyone who was in our class! And the idea that I might never be able to see you guys again… it made me realize how much I missed everyone."

That makes sense to Iida - a lot more sense than he was expecting. "When is it?"

"Friday. Can you make it?"

It's Tuesday. "I think so."

"I know you guys were given a week's vacation, whether you wanted it or not. Bakugou told me," she says, giggling. "So don't lie and tell me you have to work. Do you know where Sero's apartment is, or do you need the address?"

She ends the call with a promise to see him there, and texts him the time and address immediately afterwards. Iida wonders if their entire class is invited, and what she's telling the others the party is for.

Iida knows they'll have questions. Even the well-meaning people, even those he counts as friends, such as Midoriya - they'll all be endlessly curious. Even if they hold themselves back from asking questions directly, Iida knows he'll see it in their eyes. He dreads it.

He spends the next three days mentally preparing. He thinks about it as he runs, as he exercises with the free weights in his apartment, as he cooks and eats and sleeps. He tries to imagine what kind of questions people might ask and how best to respond, who to talk to and who to avoid.

But on the night of the party itself, Iida feels sick to his stomach. He gets dressed, combs his hair neatly, and stands in front of the mirror, looking at himself. Then he realizes he cannot do this; he is very nearly throwing up from nerves.

He texts Ashido and tells her he doesn't feel well, sorry, maybe they can do something else soon. He knows she'll send a follow-up guilting him or demanding more details - or, worse, a sad, pitying one: Aww, sorry to hear it! Hope you feel better soon! There is no response he can imagine that make him feel better, so he shuts his phone off entirely and collapses face-down in bed.

He doesn't sleep, but that's to be expected But what Iida definitely doesn't expect is a knock at his door, an hour and a half later.

His body tenses up, and he waits for thirty seconds, wondering if maybe it's a mistake, someone at the wrong apartment. But no, the knock comes again, louder this time, persistent. Iida realizes it's probably someone from the party coming to check on him. Oh God, he thinks, what if they allcame?

He has to answer it; the knocking is loud and it's late - he doesn't want his neighbors to be bothered by the sound. So Iida takes a second to smooth down his hair and adjust his glasses, and braces himself as he opens the door.

It's Bakugou.

They look at each other for a moment before Bakugou says, "You gonna invite me in or not?"

"Yes, of course," Iida says, stepping aside to let Bakugou inside. "My apologies."

He watches blankly as Bakugou takes off his shoes and steps further into the apartment. Iida isn't sure how Bakugou got his address; Iida's certainly never given it to him.

"Ashido said you were sick or something," Bakugou says, standing in the middle of the living room with his arms crossed. "I said, bullshit, and tried to call you, but you didn't answer."

"My apologies," Iida says, standing too. Even though Bakugou more or less barged in, Iida is still concerned with politeness, and it would be strange to be the only one sitting. "My phone is turned off."

"Yeah, I figured."

They stare at each other for a few seconds, Iida looking Bakugou up and down. He seems better, Iida decides. Healthier. He doesn't have dark circles under his eyes, and he certainly looks like he's showered since Iida saw him last.

"So, why?" Bakugou asks, and Iida blinks, confused.

"Excuse me?"

"Why did you tell Ashido you were sick?" Bakugou narrows his eyes. "You don't look sick to me. You look like you got dressed up for the party, then bailed."

Iida looks at the floor. He should have known Bakugou wouldn't come over just to give him get-well-soon wishes. "I didn't tell her I was sick," he says, knowing he's being pedantic. "I simply said I wasn't feeling well."

Bakugou scoffs, then glances around Iida's living room and throws himself onto the couch. "You didn't miss much," he says, leaning his head back. "The party was kind of lame, anyway."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Like, look, we all know why she wanted to have it. Some kind of fucked-up welcome-home party, right? 'Glad you didn't die,' that kind of thing. But no one is talking about what actually happened. No one! I tried to bring it up to Sero but he actually ran away from me. I think Deku was going to ask Todoroki something, but I saw Ashido elbow him to shut him up. I…" He shakes his head and smiles humorlessly. "It sounds like some dumb conspiracy theory, but I actually started to wonder if maybe she told them all not to bring it up before I got there. Like, what is the party evenabout, if not that? Why aren't they talking about it? Fucking weird, if you ask me."

Iida probably would prefer that over spending a party answering questions, but at the same time, he understands Bakugou's point of view. "Is the party over?"

"Nah, I left early. Decided to see how sick you really were."

"I didn't say I was sick," Iida says again. "I said I wasn't feeling well, and it's true."

"Why - why didn't you go?" Bakugou says, frowning. "Like, I didn't wanna go either, but when Ashido called me up, practically begging, I felt like I had to."

"I felt the same."

"But you changed your mind?"

"I just, I didn't want to face them," Iida says, sitting on the other end of the couch. "I couldn't go and have everyone thinking…"

He trails off, biting his lip. Thinking what? Thinking the truth? Thinking about what he went through? Pitying him? This train of thought makes him sound like Bakugou. Iida doesn't love pity, of course, but he's never had a reaction like this to the idea of it. The thought of it it has never made him run and hide from his own friends.

Bakugou's nodding, though. "That's why it was so damn creepy. I knew they were all thinking about it, wondering. But no one said anything."

"I just want to get back to work and put this whole thing behind me."

"Apparently Todoroki went to Fujita and asked if he could go back early," Bakugou says, smirking. "Said a week was too long to take off."

"Did she let him?"

"No, of course not. You know her, stubborn old bitch - she isn't going to change what she said for that guy. You know what she told him?"

"What?"

"She said, 'I was watching you nearly entire week. I know how much you actually exercised in there. There's no way you'll be in good enough shape to come back early.'"

Bakugou laughs, but Iida feels cold and vaguely nauseous. He shuts his eyes.

"That's what I was going to talk to Sero about," Bakugou goes on. "That video of us."

Iida looks at him sharply. "What about it?"

"Of course Fujita's going to protect her ass in front of the police and say she didn't hand the link out to anyone. But Sero's practically her pet, right? He helps her with everything. He'd know if that was true or not. Like I said, though, he totally blew me off at the party. Acted like he didn't even hear me. Fucking pisses me off."

It was a good point, Iida realized. He hadn't even considered the fact that their boss may have been dishonest. "At least it doesn't look like the existence of the livestream was leaked to the press," he says. "I couldn't find it talked about in any articles."

"Good," Bakugou says. He pauses, staring at Iida's wall, at the bookshelves, the ceiling. "I keep thinking back to being there. I wondered at the time if they were watching us - I figured they were - but I never thought others would be too."

"I know what you mean," Iida says. "Like what happened there, should have stayed there."

"I don't… I don't even know why it's bothering me so much," Bakugou says, leaning forward to rest his face in his hands. "I just keep thinking - what did I do? How much did they watch? What did they see? I feel like… I feel like there are parts of it I can't remember very well, and I don't know why. Maybe because I was sleeping so bad?"

"Bakugou," Iida says, using nearly the same gentle, authoritative voice he'd employed when they had been in captivity, "I remember everything quite clearly, and I can guarantee you did nothing to be ashamed of. Certainly nothing to be afraid of others seeing. You acted commendably."

"That's way too fucking strong a word," Bakugou says. "But thanks, I guess."

"The worst was when you attempted to drag Todoroki off his cot," Iida goes on, "but because that happened when the lights were turned off, it was probably not seen. You are lucky the camera did not record sound, I suppose."

Bakugou stares at him a moment, then throws his head back and laughs. "Right! Thank God. If it did, that would be - that would be worse."

"I didn't tell Fujita or the police about that incident," Iida says, "and I certainly don't plan to."

"Especially since you were the one who actually threw me in the water, huh?"

"Well, I…" Iida had forgotten that part of it. "I'm sure that has nothing to do with it."

"Liar," Bakugou says, but he's grinning, and Iida feels himself smiling too.

"Do you want anything to eat or drink?" Iida says, realizing he's not being a very good host. Somehow it's easier to care about things like that when he's actually enjoying himself in Bakugou's presence.

But Bakugou shakes his head. "Nah. Had a ton at the party. I should probably get going anyways." He stands and walks to the door, Iida following just behind him. After he puts his shoes on, he stops and turns.

"Hey, Glasses."

"Yes?"

"I got a new phone on Tuesday. They stole mine, remember. Probably broke it or something."

"Right. I remember Fujita mentioning it."

"So I lost all my old numbers and stuff." He's fidgety, Iida notices; he's picking at a loose seam in a sleeve, not quite making eye contact. "So give me your number."

"Oh! Right, of course!"

It isn't until after Bakugou leaves that Iida realizes, as far as he's aware, Bakugou never had his personal number to begin with. Maybe he got it from someone else, though Iida struggles to think of who that would be; if he did have it, he had never used it.

But Iida doesn't care if it was just an excuse, and he certainly doesn't mind Bakugou having his number. As he locks the door behind him and leans against it, rubbing his eyes, he only wishes he'd thought to ask for Bakugou's in return.


	5. Chapter 5

Iida wakes the next morning to a text from an unknown number.

**I have a plan,** it reads. **Meet me today at noon. **Then there is the address for a ramen place close to his apartment.

Iida stares at it for half a minute, too sleepy for it to compute. He rubs his eyes. It's probably Bakugou, but just to make sure, he texts, **Who is this?**

The response comes not long after: **its Bakugou you dumb fuck**

Iida huffs a laugh of surprise. _ Well, fine, _ he thinks, and responds with the same coldness (if not the same language): **I don't recall discussing any kind of "plan" with you?**

**look just meet me there ok? I can explain it to you**

**Okay,** Iida responds, pressing send before he properly thinks it over. Oh well; even if it's a waste of time, at least he won't have to cook himself lunch.

* * *

Bakugou's already there when Iida arrives. "Took you long enough," he says. It is 11:55.

"What's this plan you mentioned?" Iida asks.

"Cutting right to the chase, huh? I'm still deciding what to order. Give me a second."

Iida's been here a dozen times and always gets the same thing. He's stuck watching Bakugou scan the menu, flipping back and forth between pages. Iida wonders if he is buying time, if he's unsure how to begin the conversation.

Finally, after they order, Bakugou looks back up at him. "Sero is ignoring me," he says. "I told you about how he wouldn't talk to me at the party? He won't answer my texts, either."

"Why are you trying to reach him?"

"I told you yesterday," Bakugou says, annoyed. "To talk to him about that video thing. Outside of work, away from his hag girlfriend."

"Are - are you talking about Fujita?"

"I mean, he's got a thing for her, right?"

Iida blinks, saying nothing. He has no idea.

"Anyways, I really want to talk to him about this before going back to work. I don't wanna go in and have everyone laughing at me behind my back because they watched us trapped in that room for a week."

"Bakugou," Iida says, trying to make his words gentle, "I'm sure they will remain completely professional."

"As professional as me and Todoroki were when we were fucking," Bakugou says. "As professional as Sero, mooning over his goddamn _ boss_. God, you're so clueless! Of course they'll be professional to your face, but as soon as you turn around…"

"We did absolutely nothing for which we will be mocked," Iida says, his voice firm. "I have full confidence that, no matter how many people saw the footage, none of us will have to endure any teasing." He hesitates before adding, "Besides, who would mock someone for being _ kidnapped_?"

"Even if they don't mock us," Bakugou says quietly, "I still want to know."

Iida looks at him. He's staring down at the wood of the table in front of them, running a finger back and forth along the grain, pointedly not making eye contact. "What's your plan?" Iida says.

Bakugou looks up. "I want you to text Sero. Ask to meet with him tonight or tomorrow."

"Under what pretense?"

"It doesn't fucking matter. Say anything! Say… say you want to train with him to make sure you're back in shape for going back on Monday. Or say you lost the detective's business card, does he have his number?"

"That one wouldn't work. He could just send me the number. And as for the first one…" Iida considers it. "It's not a terrible plan, but I have never met with Sero outside of work. I don't think it would be convincing. Besides, I don't even have his personal phone number."

"I do," Bakugou says. "And who cares? Make your excuse something about work, then."

"I don't want to lie to Sero."

"Give me your phone," Bakugou says. "I'll lie to him for you."

"No! That wouldn't be any better than if I just lied to him myself," Iida says. "Use someone else's. Go ask Ashido, if she's still in town."

"I am _ not _ going to talk about this with her," Bakugou growls.

"Then…" _ Then Todoroki, _Iida wants to say, but he bites his tongue. "Then you can ask Sero on Monday, at work. He won't be able to avoid you very long there."

"Goddamn it!" Bakugou slaps the table, and Iida jumps. "Iida. Please."

Iida doesn't know if it's Bakugou's desperate tone, the way he used Iida's real name, or the way he said please, but, one way or another, Iida finds his resolve crumbling. "Give me Sero's number," he says, pulling out his phone. "I'll message him myself. But I won't lie."

"Okay. Okay, fine," Bakugou says, and gives him the contact info.

Iida thinks about how to phrase the text. He thinks for a long time, typing and retyping. In the end the message he sends reads:

**Hello Sero, this is Iida. I have something I'd like to discuss with you before I go back to work on Monday. Are you free to meet up with me tonight or tomorrow? I'd rather discuss it in person, if possible. Thank you.**

"Sent." He turns the volume up and sets his phone on the table so they'll both be aware if Sero responds. The server arrives with their drinks, and for a minute there's silence.

Then the phone dings. Iida's aware of Bakugou reading the message upside down across the table, and holds the device flat so it's easier for him.

**Hey Iida! Hope you're doing better! Yeah sure that's fine. I'm busy tonight but tomorrow I'm free, what time were you thinking and where do you want to meet?**

Iida looks at Bakugou, waiting for his input. "Any time," Bakugou says, "it doesn't matter."

"But where?"

"We could meet him at the agency. Or your apartment. Or somewhere else. Doesn't matter to me."

The gym at the agency, Iida decides - so, if necessary, he can chicken out and pretend he wants to ask about his fitness level or something. He quickly composes the message, choosing a time in the early afternoon, when the gym isn't usually busy, and hits send. A minute later Sero confirms their meeting, and suddenly Iida and Bakugou are alone at a restaurant together, waiting for their food, with nothing to distract them from each other.

Bakugou doesn't say thank you. Iida's hardly expecting him to, of course, but it leaves them in terribly uncomfortable silence. For some reason Bakugou isn't using his phone to pass the time, just staring at Iida as if he's waiting for something.

Iida swallows. "So, Bakugou," he says, "how have you been?"

"Fucking…" Bakugou exhales. "Not great."

"Do you think you'll be ready to go back? Or are you going to ask for more time?"

"I'll be ready," Bakugou says. "Like, I've been working out, I've gotten back in shape. Eating better and stuff. I'm fine." He looks sharply at Iida. "I've been going to the agency gym every day."

"That's good…"

"And you haven't. Not once."

"I _ have _ been exercising," Iida says, instantly on the defensive. "I have weights here, and I've been going running-"

"Before, you went to that gym all the time."

Iida looks at him.

"You went all the time," Bakugou says again. "Just about every day you weren't working."

"Yes," Iida says. They'd often exercise there at the same time, never saying anything, never acknowledging the other at all. Iida is honestly surprised Bakugou had taken note of his presence - and his absence. "I did."

"You've been avoiding it."

Iida had already realized this is where Bakugou was heading, but that doesn't mean he has a good answer to give. "Yes," he says simply.

Bakugou looks at him. Iida stares back, feeling a flush rise to his cheeks. But Bakugou says nothing more, which is, to Iida, almost worse. He feels he has to explain.

"You've been eager to see Sero, to talk to him," Iida says at last. "But I can't say I've been eager to see anyone."

"Are you going to quit?"

"What? No," Iida says quickly. The thought has never crossed his mind. "That's ridiculous."

"Are you going to ask for more time? A longer break?"

"I wasn't planning on it," Iida says. "Once I start again, I think I'll be fine. Like I said yesterday, once I actually get back to work, I think I'll feel better about this entire incident."

"As long as-"

At that instant, the server brings their appetizer, edamame. The good thing about this is that they have something to focus on besides each other and the uncomfortable subject matter of the conversation at hand. The downside, in Iida's opinion, is the communal nature of the food; the two of them keep reaching for a pea pod at the same time and accidentally brushing hands, and with every touch Iida is reminded that today is the first time he's touched another person since, well, since he sparred with Bakugou. And the hand-brushing keeps happening so often Iida begins to wonder if Bakugou is doing it on purpose, although that's silly - most likely they're both just very hungry and are eating as many pea pods as possible.

In any event, as soon as they finish the edamame, their ramen arrives. They eat in silence, pay and then they are free to leave, Iida heading back to his own apartment, Bakugou going his own way.

That evening he reads over his short conversation with Sero. _ I'm sorry, Sero, _ Iida thinks, _ I am leading you into a trap; _ but the truth is that he does not actually feel much pity. If what Bakugou says about Sero is right - and Iida suspects it is, because Bakugou did not particularly seem to be lying or exaggerating - then Iida isn't particularly inclined to take Sero's side.

The next day, he and Bakugou meet at the agency gym a few minutes early. Bakugou hides around the corner, so Sero won't see him until he's already there. It's all very silly, Iida thinks, waiting near the entrance - like Bakugou thinks he's in some kind of a spy movie. It's also pathetic that Bakugou has been forced to go to these lengths at all. Iida thinks everyone in this whole situation is acting like a child, himself included.

"Hey!" Sero says brightly, waving to Iida as he enters the gym a few minutes later. But, Iida sees with a shock, he is not alone: Ashido is with him, too.

"Hello Sero, hello Ashido," Iida says, loud enough that he knows Bakugou can hear. "I didn't expect to see you here today, Ashido!"

"Well, I _ did _ expect to see you on Friday," she says, poking him. Then her face grows a little more serious. "Nah, dude, I'm just kidding. I hope you're feeling better!"

"She's spending the weekend with me," Sero explains, sounding almost apologetic. "When I mentioned I was meeting with you, I couldn't stop her from coming, too."

"How have you been?" Ashido says.

"Hang on - first, Iida, what's the issue you texted me about? Is it work related?"

Iida's about to scream, but, luckily, Bakugou finally decides to make his appearance. "Our issue _ is _ work related, in fact," Bakugou says, striding quickly out from the gym interior like he's afraid Sero will make a break for it. Iida watches Sero's smile flicker, looking a little more strained than before. "And there's a reason Iida messaged Sero alone and not _ you, _ Raccoon-Face. It's personal. You're not involved, so scram."

"Bakugou," Iida says softly. _ No wonder Sero's been avoiding him, _Iida thinks.

Ashido isn't as offended as Iida expects, however. Her face takes on an almost grim look, eyebrows furrowed, mouth a straight line. "So it's about… _ that_?"

"Yes, of fucking course it is. It's actually confidential, I wasn't just making that up. Seriously, Sero, can she leave? She doesn't work for the agency, is she even _ allowed _ here?"

"Fine, fine," Ashido says. "I'll go hang out somewhere for a while. Sero, text me when you're heading back."

"Yeah, sorry," he says, sounding as if he truly is. And no wonder, Iida thinks: now it is just him against Iida and Bakugou both. He probably _ is _ sorry to see Ashido go.

"Look," Bakugou says as soon as they're alone, "you know what this is about. I know you heard me at the party."

Sero looks at him, saying nothing.

"The video," Bakugou goes on. "The video of us. We wanna know how many people saw it. _ What _they saw, who had access."

"The kidnappers sent the link directly to Fujita," Sero says slowly.

"Uh-huh. And who did she give it to?"

"The detective and me," Sero says. "That's all."

Iida raises his eyebrows. Fujita hadn't mentioned before that she'd shared it with Sero. "Who did _ you _give it to?" he asks.

"No one!" Sero throws his hands up. "Honestly no one, I promise. We were working together to make sure someone was always watching it during the day, so we'd know right away if something happened to you guys. Look, I don't know what you're thinking, but it's not as if we were all sitting around at the agency, watching it the whole time. I swear we were totally professional."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Bakugou says, but Iida speaks over him: "Did you tell anyone about the existence of the video?"

"No!"

"Not Ashido?"

"Look," Sero says, addressing Iida directly, "she and I honestly didn't talk about it at all. We don't talk about work that much. We haven't hung out in so long, we have enough other things to catch up on. We were all told not to mention the video to the press or anyone, and I'm pretty sure no one has. Bakugou-"

The gym door opens; it's Todoroki, who stops dead when he sees the others there. Iida wonders if he's debating just turning around and leaving, but after a moment he seems to compose himself and continues in. "Hello, Sero, Bakugou, Iida," he says, his tone polite. "Iida, are you feeling better?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Exactly who I was hoping to see," Bakugou says, and Iida's sure he's being sarcastic, although he doesn't understand why. "Sero was just telling us all about the video of us that Fujita shared with him, which she conveniently forgot to mention."

"Bakugou!" Sero says, the smile gone once and for all from his face. "Does that _ matter? _ I promise I didn't share it with anyone!"

"It _ doesn't _matter," Todoroki says. "Frankly, I don't care who Fujita and Sero shared it with. As long as the camera wasn't in the bathroom, anyone can share it with anyone. I didn't do anything I'm ashamed of."

"Todoroki," Iida says, feeling as if he's up to his neck in something he doesn't even understand, "first off, _ none _of us did anything we need to be ashamed of. I believe it's the principle of the thing. And Bakugou," he goes on, turning to face him, "if Sero says he didn't share it, I believe him. It's fine to ask him this once - I was curious too - but there's no need to pursue it to this extent."

"Thank you," Sero says, after a pause. He laughs nervously. Bakugou and Todoroki are looking at each other, Todoroki's gaze stony, Bakugou practically growling in anger.

"I'm leaving," Iida says. "Sero, there wasn't anything else I wanted to talk to you about. Thanks for your time. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you."

Iida doesn't look behind him as he leaves, so as he steps outside the agency he's surprised to hear a set of footsteps other than his own. It's Bakugou. "You aren't going to stay and keep interrogating Sero?" Iida asks.

"You believe him?"

Iida stops and turns. The question wasn't asked with malice or doubt - as far as Iida can tell, Bakugou's asking honestly. "Yes," Iida says. "Call me naive if you want, but I do."

Bakugou says nothing, so Iida keeps walking. Bakugou follows him to the subway station, where they stand side by side, waiting for the train.

They'd been silent for a few minutes when Iida speaks again. "I don't see anything it in for them," he says. "What's the point? What would they gain, exactly?"

Bakugou shrugs but says nothing, just scuffs the ground with his foot.

On the train, Iida wonders at first if Bakugou also lives this way, but when they get off the same stop he realizes Bakugou's still following him. He doesn't say anything.

When they get to Iida's apartment, Bakugou looks around as if it's his first time being there. "Nice place," he says.

Iida can't tell if his tone is serious or sarcastic. "Thank you," he replies cautiously. He _ hopes _Bakugou is being serious, because Iida does, in fact, think it's a nice place. He painted the walls himself, all the rooms done in various shades of blues and grays; while it doesn't have much in the way of art or decorations, the furniture is all high quality, comfortable and practical, almost all real wood. He feels like it looks like the home of an adult, someone in control of their life, and he's proud of it.

"You still have that collection of glasses?"

Iida smiles. "Yes, but not on display anymore." He learned his lesson back at U.A., with the teasing he endured. Everyone who came into his room seemed to greatly enjoy taking pairs to see if he'd notice. He always did, eventually, but that didn't deter them.

"Ha. Of course you do. Some things never change."

Iida watches Bakugou make himself at home, exploring the kitchen and living room and bathroom, and thinks: _ Why do I not mind this? _

At what point did he just come to accept Bakugou's presence?

No - he doesn't need to ask. He knows when and where, can pinpoint it almost precisely. It was in the bathroom, probably, as they sat side by side. Maybe that first night, as he curled up in the shower and Bakugou kept watch. Or one of the later days, when they spoke late into the night and he did his best to keep Bakugou sane.

Iida doesn't even mind when Bakugou looks at his bedroom. It's as neat and pristine as the rest of his place, the bed made, his clothes hung up in his closet or folded neatly in his drawers. The only thing out of place is the book he's currently reading, sitting on his bedside table. Iida lets Bakugou poke around, scanning the books on his shelves, and watches him.

He thinks of the question he'd asked Bakugou the day before. _ How've you been? _ And Bakugou's answer: _ Not great. _

He thinks of Bakugou in the dim bathroom light, all those days ago: _ I don't want to be alone. _

And Iida thinks of himself, avoiding everyone for the past week, hiding from parties and walking whenever he can to avoid the subway. He makes a decision. It's a risk, because he truly doesn't know if Bakugou will accept, but he swallows his fear and speaks anyway. "Bakugou, would you like to stay the night?"

Bakugou looks at him. "We go back to work tomorrow," he says, his tone cautious.

"Yes, but we don't have to stay up late, so I doubt it will affect our performance. I'm apprehensive about going back after so long away, and I think I would find it… comforting to have someone in the same situation. You can feel free to refuse, of course."

Bakugou looks at him for a long time, his gaze so penetrating and direct it almost seems as though he's reading Iida's thoughts. Finally he nods once. "I'll go home and get my things."

"I'll make dinner," Iida says. "I can go to the store while you're gone."

Bakugou nods again, then turns and heads to the door. He says nothing, just puts on his shoes and leaves, gone in an instant. Almost as if he's eager to come back.

Iida doesn't have time to walk to the grocery store, not if he's going to be done shopping by the time Bakugou returns. As he boards the train, he realizes the crowd there doesn't bother him as much as normal - because it's a Sunday and less full, of course, but Iida thinks it's something else too. Maybe the thought of cooking for Bakugou is distracting enough that he just notices the crowds less.

It's a silly thought, but it keeps Iida preoccupied the entire trip to the store, and as he gets off the train his, his step is light. Thinking of Bakugou, focusing on him instead of on Iida's own problems, is giving him a sense of purpose, and for the first time in days, he feels his heart lift.


	6. Chapter 6

Iida's not a bad chef. Cooking is just following instructions, after all; so long as you have a decent recipe and do not stray from it, it's hard to do wrong.

Iida has seldom prepared food for others before, but he refuses to let himself overthink it, preferring instead to just work as if he's making his own food, doubled. He gets to work immediately, wholly immersed in the task as soon as he begins. When there's a knock at the door, Iida practically jumps out of his skin, even though he knows it's only Bakugou. "Come in!" he calls, his hands slimy with raw chicken. "It's unlocked!"

He doesn't know where Bakugou goes once he's inside the apartment, and doesn't really care. In a minute Iida's back in his own world. He checks his recipe again, measures spices, turns on the stove. In a few minutes the apartment is thick with the scent of food cooking - hot oil, chicken, vegetables.

A voice behind him: "What're you making?"

"A stir-fry," Iida says, not taking his eyes off what's in front of him. "You've got good timing, Bakugou. It's almost ready."

"Yeah, I can tell," Bakugou says. "I'll set the table."

_ You don't know where anything is, _ Iida wants to say, but he holds himself back. He'll let Bakugou figure it out - there's no harm in it. Iida doesn't actually mind him in the kitchen, opening the cupboards and drawers to find where the dishes and silverware are kept. And it's one less thing for Iida to deal with, anyway.

They eat in silence. When they're done Bakugou offers no compliments on his cooking, but Iida is aware of how much Bakugou ate - there's almost no leftovers. Obviously Iida must have done _ something _ right.

After dinner, Bakugou looks at him for a long time, and Iida gets the sense he's working up the courage to ask something. Finally he says, "Do you want to spar?"

The question takes Iida by surprise, and he laughs nervously. "Here? Now?"

"Well - yeah…"

"My apartment isn't really as nice as it appears," Iida says. "The walls and floors are quite thin. I hardly think my neighbors would appreciate that." He's never sparred in his apartment, and certainly isn't about to start now. But to soften the sting of rejection, he adds, "I did enjoy sparring with you quite a lot. We certainly can do it again on our next day off, just at a different location."

"Okay, yeah," Bakugou says, and if he's embarrassed, Iida can't tell. "That's cool."

"I only have one bed, of course, but I can sleep on the couch," Iida says. It isn't nearly bedtime yet, of course, but he likes to get these things taken care of ahead of time, so there's less to worry about later.

But Bakugou is frowning. "No," he says, "I'll take the couch."

"It's small," Iida says. "Too small to stretch out." He knows from personal experience that it's not that soft, either. "It won't be comfortable. And you're my guest, so you can have the bed."

"I don't give a fuck if it's comfortable or not," Bakugou says. "It's your house. I'm not stupid, I know you invited me here for my sake, not yours, so at least let me take the uncomfortable place, alright? Besides," he adds, smiling a little grimly, "I've definitely fallen asleep in worse places."

Iida blinks, surprised. He didn't think Bakugou had realized the favor Iida was doing him. Iida assumed that if Bakugou were aware of his motives, he would have refused to stay the night, what with his aversion to accepting acts of pity. "Very well," Iida says at last. "If you insist."

They do their own thing for a while, nearby one another but not interacting. Iida looks over recent news articles, getting himself up to speed on what he might encounter at work the following day and what sort of villains his agency's been dealing with recently. Bakugou's brought his laptop with him, and he watches something with the headphones plugged in, his face blank. Iida gets ready for bed at his normal time and is asleep before eleven.

He wakes in the darkness, not knowing why. Groggily he checks his phone; it's nearing three. Then, from the ambient city light that comes through his windows, he is able to make out a human shape: Bakugou, sitting on the edge of the bed. It must have been the pressure of him seating himself that woke Iida up.

"Bakugou," he says. "What is it?"

"Oh, you're awake?"

"You woke me up."

"I can't sleep."

"I did tell you the couch wasn't comfortable." Iida pushes himself into a sitting position, his limbs heavy. "Come on, I'll move to the couch, you can have the bed."

"No!" Bakugou's voice is urgent. "No, it isn't that."

"What?"

"It's not because of the couch," he says. "I can't sleep well at my own place either. Don't - don't move."

Iida rubs his forehead. "I thought… when I saw you the other day, for the first time since we got out, I thought you looked better," he says. "You - you _ look _like you've been sleeping."

"I haven't," Bakugou says. "My sleeping schedule is all fucked. I stay up all night, until I can't stay up any longer, then I crash and sleep a few hours at a time."

"That's…" Iida pauses. He's not sure where he's going with his sentence, what his next word should be. Unhealthy? Unpleasant? Those all go without saying. "Well, at least… at least after work today you should be tired enough to hopefully get back on a more normal schedule."

"I can't sleep because every time I try, I'm there."

"You're-"

"I'm_ there. _On the cot. On the bathroom floor. I keep thinking that I'm there, dreaming it. Sometimes I'm alone, or sometimes you're both there too, or just you or just him, but every night, like clockwork, I'm right back there again. And - and they're not even nightmares, really. I just think, 'I'm still here. Guess I'll be here forever,' like all resigned."

On one hand, Iida wishes they were not having this conversation on a work night, but on the other, he is not about to turn Bakugou away in this state, not when he's given this brutal, bare honesty. He takes a sip of water, thinking, buying time. "Maybe you should go to therapy," he says at last. "When we were first getting trained at the agency, didn't they mention there are psychologists who specialize-"

"Lot of good that will do me right now," Bakugou says. "Besides, _ you're _one to talk."

"Excuse me?"

"Are you really doing all that much better than I am? Hiding away here, avoiding everyone? At least I'm not doing _ that, _at least I'm not afraid to show my face."

Iida runs a hand through his hair. He's angry, of course - how dare Bakugou wake him up and start saying this sort of thing to him, while staying under his roof! - but on the other hand, Iida knows there's some truth in it. He _ is _being hypocritical.

"After tomorrow I won't exactly be able to avoid people any longer," Iida says at last. "But, Bakugou, you're right that therapy isn't going to do either of us a lot of good at this moment. Probably the thing that would help you the most right now is sleep."

Bakugou makes a sound that's nearly a whine. "I've been trying!"

"Come here," Iida says. If Bakugou wants to act like a child, he can be treated like one, too. "If you insist on being stubborn and refusing to let me take the couch, I will be stubborn too. This bed is large enough for two people. We can share it."

It is the sort of exhausted suggestion that can _ only _ come at three in the morning. Iida might have suggested anything if he thought it would let him get back to sleep. And Bakugou, stricken with the same complacent vulnerability he'd shown during their captivity, does not fight him on it. "Be right back," he says. "I'll get my pillow."

So, in a twist so strange Iida isn't entirely convinced it isn't a dream, he ends up moving to one side of the bed and settling in with Bakugou. They each have separate blankets, so it isn't as if their skin is touching, but it's still incredibly intimate to lie there beside him and listen to the sound of his breaths. At one point Bakugou's entire body gives a jerk, and for some reason Iida feels a strange rush of fondness: his body does that too, as he's about to fall asleep. Iida's glad, because it means his plan is working; Bakugou will not have an entirely sleepless night.

* * *

Waking up to his alarm the next morning is hard, but Iida knows that it must be worse for Bakugou. They head to work together, eyes bleary and red and dark-circled but neither one complaining; in fact, they don't talk at all.

It's been less than two weeks since he last came to work like normal, but it feels worlds away. As soon as he and Bakugou get into the agency, Sero pulls them into a conference room, where Todoroki and Fujita are already waiting.

"Here's the plan for the day," Fujita says, glancing down at what Iida assumes is a schedule. "You four are going to do patrols. I've got your routes here. I'm pairing Iida with Todoroki and Sero with Bakugou." She hands out maps, not asking whether they have any objections - she never does, and Iida thinks that was probably one of the reasons she works well with Bakugou. Whenever he smells weakness in an authority figure, he lunges. Under a less stern boss he might demand more, but Fujita will not stand for it.

Iida doesn't mind her decree, even if this feels a little like busy work; patrols are often reserved for the newest members of the agency. But Iida is fairly certain he, Todoroki and Bakugou aren't being punished - more like gently brought back up to speed. He sees it as thoughtfulness on Fujita's part.

His day with Todoroki is quite uneventful - no villains to apprehend, no robberies to stop - and Iida finds himself itching to start a conversation to break the silence. But what does he have to talk about with Todoroki besides work - and Bakugou? What is he going to say? - _ Oh, Bakugou slept over at my house last night, but don't worry, it was platonic! And by the way, yes, I do know you two were together… _

There's near total silence between them the entire day. Iida does manage a half-hearted "How are you doing these days?", Todoroki says he's fine, and that's the extent of it, besides their conversation about the work at hand. If Iida were to be totally honest with himself, this is roughly the level of camaraderie they had before they were captured; maybe it's foolish to expect the shared trauma to make them closer.

Iida's tired when he gets home, probably more from his interrupted sleep than from work itself. He grabs the book he's working on and sits down to read, but not long after he hears a knock on the door.

Iida has a guess about the identity of his visitor, and as it turns out, he's not wrong. Bakugou's changed out of his hero outfit and has a bag slung over his shoulder, and he enters without even waiting for Iida to invite him in. He throws his bag onto the floor and slumps onto the couch, head leaned back and eyes closed.

"Hey, Glasses," he says.

Iida looks over, his dignity telling him not to answer to the nickname. Deep down, though, he knows it's a lost cause. "Hello, Bakugou."

"Can I…"

Iida looks at him, arms crossed. Bakugou opens his eyes, sighs, and rubs his forehead with the palm of a hand as if fighting a headache. Iida's pretty sure he already knows what Bakugou intends to ask, but he waits for him to gather the words.

"I fucking - I _ need _ to stay the night," he says. "Last night was the best sleep I've gotten all week. Please."

It's the "please" that does Iida in, of course. He's weak to Bakugou saying it, even if it's become a more and more common occurrence these days. Still, he decides to push, to see how much Bakugou bends. "I hardly understand why my bed should be any different from yours," he says. "Last night, I'm sure your success was just because you were more exhausted - your body reached its limit, and you fell into a deeper sleep."

Bakugou shakes his head. "No. I've been exhausted all week. I kept having nightmares until I…" He waves a hand. Iida can fill in the blank: _ until I slept with you. _ "Please. Look, I'll cook. I'm a decent cook. I'll buy groceries."

"Maybe I'm a naturally restless sleeper, and sharing a bed with me causes you not to reach R.E.M. sleep, therefore preventing dreams," Iida muses. "In any event… Yes, Bakugou. You can."

Bakugou doesn't quite smile, but his frown lessens. "I'll get groceries," he says, jumping to his feet. "You got any allergies?"

* * *

They don't even bother with the charade of the couch. When it gets late, they get into their pajamas and lie on top of the covers, Iida reading, Bakugou on his phone. Iida's getting tired, catching himself reading the same line multiple times, when Bakugou breaks the silence: "How was your patrol with Half-and-Half?"

Iida shuts his book. "It was… fine," he says. "We didn't speak much." He pauses; Bakugou is making small talk, and, even more incredibly, he seems like he actually wants to listen. "It wasn't so bad, though. How was it for you and Sero?"

"Fine," Bakugou says. "I don't think he was happy he got stuck with me."

"I bet you pestered him with questions."

"Oh, yeah, of course I did. But it went okay. Boring as hell, though."

"Bakugou," Iida says, something occuring to him for the first time, "you call Todoroki by nicknames all the time - I don't think I've ever heard you call him by his real name. Did you do that when you were dating, too?"

Bakugou makes a surprised sound, something between a laugh or a cough, and looks over at Iida in surprise. "What a fucking weird question," he says. "Nosy, aren't you?"

"Only curious," Iida says. A side effect of Bakugou being so pushy with him is that he's not afraid to push back. Iida doesn't care if he causes offense - he's not afraid of Bakugou's opinion of him. "I must admit, I find it hard to imagine you and Todoroki dating at all - I've never known you to be anything but cold to each other, even during the time you were supposedly together."

"We kept it on the down-low," Bakugou says. "We acted the same at work as we always had. It wasn't hard. He doesn't really like PDA. And no, I didn't call him by any nicknames when we were alone together. I called him Shouto."

There's a vulnerability to Bakugou's voice as he speaks the last sentence, as if simply saying Todoroki's name is bringing back bittersweet memories. Iida suddenly feels as if he's gone too far, as if he's overstepped his boundaries. He doesn't care about offending Bakugou, but he doesn't want to cause him unnecessary pain, either."I apologize for the intrusiveness of my question," he says, voice quiet.

"It's fine," Bakugou says. He tucks his phone under his pillow and turns his head to look at Iida. "I haven't actually talked about the breakup with anyone before."

"You haven't?"

"So few people even know we were ever together," Bakugou says. "I mean, our friends do, some of them… but who I am gonna dump my feelings on, who isn't also friends with Shouto? Kirishima, maybe, but with him being so far away and all…" He shrugs. "So I guess what I'm saying is, I don't mind that you're asking questions like this. It's kinda nice to talk about. Not just the breakup - the relationship in general."

"Then it seems mutually beneficial for me to be curious," Iida says, and Bakugou grins.

"What do you wanna know?"

"Anything you care to tell me about."

"You have to be more specific than that," Bakugou says. "We dated for months, there's a lot to cover."

In total honesty, Iida knows next to nothing about relationships. As he's already told Bakugou, his personal experience is laughable. His single past relationship consisted of holding Uraraka's hand in the hallways and kissing her on the cheek when they parted. It was pleasant and chaste and he felt more devastated than he logically should have when she broke it off, but, really, that's nothing compared with what a _ real _ relationship must be like - countless hours spent in each other's company, intimacy with another person like Iida's never known…

He understands why Bakugou doesn't know where to start. He has no idea what questions to ask, either. He rubs the bridge of his nose, thinking, and finally asks, "Who began the relationship?"

"It was… kind of mutual?" Bakugou says. "I guess it was. I, heh, I thought he was hot, and I stared at him all time, and one day he confronted me to figure out why. And I ended up telling him, and I guess it was mutual. Not very romantic, is it."

"It makes sense." A relationship based on mutual physical attraction seems to fit Bakugou's personality better than a romantic one, Iida thinks.

Iida doesn't even need to think of the next question; it seems Bakugou has more to say. "So of course it was never really romantic. Like I said, no PDA, not much in the way of going on dates - not that we had a ton of time, with work and all. It was more about… the physical side."

Iida knows what Bakugou is referring to without asking for clarification. He might be inexperienced, but it's not like he's completely sheltered. He isn't about to pry, but he finds himself somehow intrigued by learning about this, a subject he understands only in a clinical, distant way. Iida knows some of his friends have had sex (most of them, if he's going to be honest), but he's never asked what it's like, and they've never volunteered that info.

"Was it enough to sustain the relationship?" Iida asks.

"What do you mean?"

"The - the sex. The 'physical side'. Was it enough to make you two want to be together even though you were never really… friends?"

Bakugou blinks and looks away. "It's not like we fought all the time, not at first," he says. "It's not like it was _ only _ sex, it's not like we had sex all the time. We did other stuff, too. It wasn't… it wasn't the only thing." He looks back and Iida has to catch his breath, because, although Bakugou is still smiling, he looks terribly sad, too. "Can I tell you something dumb?"

"What's that?"

"When the three of us were kidnapped, I was kind of happy he was there. I thought that maybe being trapped together would make us get back together. I only thought that for a little while, of course. It's stupid. It will never happen. I realized that pretty fast."

Iida doesn't know what to say to that. He stares down at his hands, which lie folded in his lap. "I'm sorry."

"You think you're over someone, you think you've moved on, 'cause they obviously have… and then something like this happens, and you realize you were just tricking yourself into believing you moved on. You never really did."

Iida does not know that feeling, but he can hear how painful it is from the timbre of Bakugou's voice. "I'm sorry," he says again, but he knows it is not enough; so he leans forward and hugs Bakugou, feeling him freeze at first and then begin to laugh, a deep rumble that Iida feels as much as hears.

"You're a sap, aren't you," Bakugou says, once they split apart.

"I just don't like to see my friends in pain," Iida says. "I can't actually do anything to help, I know that, but I want you to know that I'm here for you."

"Like I said. A sap." Bakugou lifts the blankets and wriggles beneath them. "I'm going to sleep now. Or try, at any rate. You can keep your light on if you wanna keep reading."

"No," Iida says. "I'm going to sleep too."

And just like that, the conversation's over. A flip of the switch and they're laying in the dark, the room silent but for their breathing. Iida turns Bakugou's words over in his head. He still cannot really imagine Todoroki and Bakugou together as a couple. Whatever Bakugou says, Iida can only picture coldness and fights without warmth or affection. Obviously he doesn't know the whole story, but part of him - a strange, heretofore quiet part - wants to speak up and say: _ Bakugou, why would you ever desire to return to that? Let me tell you how he looked at you - with contempt like I've never seen before. You are better off without him, I promise you. _

It would not help, though. Bakugou already knows logically that they'll never get together again. Iida's words will change nothing.

But that does not make him want to say it any less.

Unsettled, Iida wraps the blankets around himself and tries to turn his mind to other things - but he finds it difficult, and his thoughts keep him awake for a long time even after Bakugou is fast asleep.

* * *

**Author's Note:** This chapter is so funny to me, because it's obvious I have no idea what professional heroes do at work. I feel like a child trying to describe an office job. "They go on patrol... and do hero things..."


	7. Chapter 7

A few more days of this and Iida realizes they've got a routine going. They go to work, where in most aspects their relationship is as it's always been, and they head home separately, Bakugou going back to his place to get clean clothes for the next day. He ends up at Iida's place every evening and makes dinner for both of them. After they eat, they do their own thing for several hours, not interacting much if at all. When nighttime rolls around, they climb into bed together, talk for a while, and fall asleep. Had someone told Iida a month ago about this - that he'd be willingly sharing a bed with Bakugou daily, and that he'd actually enjoy it - he would have taken it as a joke. The Iida of now is amazed at the seamless way they fit into each other's lives and at how seldom Bakugou grates on his nerves now.

If he's being perfectly honest with himself - and Iida likes to make a habit of doing so - he has to admit that his favorite part of his day is sitting in bed with Bakugou, talking. He finds there's an openness that comes with being warm, physically comfortable, and a little sleepy. It seems to be true for both of them, so the sharing actually goes both ways. Some nights Bakugou will talk about his relationship with Todoroki, but others Iida will talk about his own life: his parents, his brother, his childhood. Maybe because Iida is careful not to laugh or mock him, Bakugou in turn does not make fun of Iida. He listens and nods, occasionally asking questions.

The nights Iida finds to be simultaneously the best and worst are the ones where Bakugou talks about his relationship with Todoroki. Iida never imagined that a relationship could be so complex; six months isn't short, but in the grand scheme of things it isn't long, either. Yet Bakugou's time with Todoroki had a life of its own - distinct stages, bursts of passion and dry spells, and, of course, fight after fight after fight.

Bakugou enjoys talking about those in particular. He has a vivid memory for them, too, as if they happened just the other day. "Can you believe he said that to me?" he says, voice loud with righteous anger, and Iida nods and gets mad on Bakugou's behalf, even while knowing he is only getting half the story.

At first, Bakugou does not talk about sex in detail - all he says is that he'd had a lot of it when he was with Todoroki. When it's brought up, Iida feels embarrassed on his behalf. Isn't it strange to talk about that sort of thing with an awkward virgin? Iida knows there is absolutely nothing sexy about himself. He's perfectly aware his entire existence is a turnoff.

Still, as they talk more and more about the relationship, sometimes Bakugou does bring up sex. When he and Todoroki fought, Bakugou says, sometimes they resolved things by getting in bed together. (Iida thinks that sounds like a terrible idea, the relationship version of sweeping dust under the rug, but he does not voice this. His disapproval of the way Bakugou handled his months-dead relationship means nothing now, after all.) They were monogamous, but neither kept it a secret that they both found others physically attractive; they might even discuss those people together, to see how their tastes in men overlapped. At the peak of their relationship, there were entire weekends they'd spend with each other alone, hardly leaving the bed, much less the house. And so on, and so on.

The more Bakugou shares, the more Iida is forced to realize his own ignorance. He knows the mechanics of sex, knows what an orgasm feels like - he does masturbate - but he never thought of it as something so pleasant and powerful that it could shape the course of a relationship. It leaves him wondering what the fuss is about. But Bakugou doesn't seem to care that Iida knows hardly more about sex than a kid would; he still talks to him about it as an equal, never patronizing or condescending, even if the conversations on the topic are entirely one-sided.

The more Bakugou talks about his past with Todoroki, the more mixed Iida's feelings on the topic become. On one hand, Iida enjoys being a sounding board: he can tell it's therapeutic for Bakugou, and Iida is happy to lighten his load. But on the other hand, Iida realizes it's beginning to make him feel uncomfortable. He gets an almost physical sensation, as if there's a weight in his gut. Yet he does not understand why.

He thinks of possible explanations, and overturns them one by one. It is not only that talking about sex is strange. If it _ were _just that, Iida would be fine when they discuss other aspects of the relationship, but he is not. Perhaps, Iida thinks next, Bakugou's anger is catching, and by discussing negative things, Iida is filled with negative feelings. This seems closer to the truth, but he realizes eventually that he still feels the unpleasant twinge when Bakugou talks about the good aspects of the relationship, too.

There are many other possible things it could be, and yet Iida is not self-aware enough to parse his own feelings. He hates not knowing, but must live with it for now. In the meantime, he does not ask Bakugou to refrain from talking about Todoroki. Despite the feeling he gets, he is also somehow curious. His own feelings have never been a mystery before, and he wants to get to the bottom of it.

* * *

Iida knows that, sooner or later, people are going to realize he gets to work at the same time as Bakugou every day. He considers suggesting they stagger their arrivals; but, after days of putting off the decision, he discovers that the damage has been done.

He's staying late at the agency one day, working on paperwork with Sero - everyone else has already left - when out of the corner of his eye he sees the other man get to his feet and stretch. "I'm taking a break," Sero says. "My eyes are starting to hurt."

Iida's are, too, although he didn't realize it until that moment. He rubs the bridge of his nose, where his glasses rest. "At least the week is almost over," he says. It's the Thursday of his second week back. Without exception, Bakugou's spent every night at his place. Iida wonders where he is now, if he's grocery shopping or still at his own apartment, getting his things together.

"So, Iida," Sero says, his tone lighthearted, "how's it going with Bakugou?"

Iida looks at him, at first uncomprehending. Then he notices Sero's wide smile and casual body language. He realizes he is being mocked.

"How's it going with Fujita?" Iida snaps back.

He regrets it the moment it's out of his mouth, but it's done, there's no taking it back. Sero's smile fades instantly, and he sits down with a thump, looking down at his paperwork again.

"Sero," Iida says, "I didn't, I-"

"Never mind," Sero says, tone still light, but, Iida knows, more forced now. "Let's just get this done so we can go home, shall we?"

Iida knows he's hurt him, but he just nods and shifts his focus back to his work as well. He doesn't know why he felt the sudden urge to lash out, or why he acted on it. He should have foreseen that someone might notice he's been coming to work with Bakugou daily, and incorrectly infer it means they are in a relationship. He should have planned a better response; there are a million excuses he could have invented - "We jog together in the mornings," or "He's been staying at my place because of maintenance on his apartment" or even playing dumb: "What do you mean?"

But, Iida realizes on his commute home, the fact that he responded in such a knee-jerk way could be taken _ very _ wrongly. After all, at least according to Bakugou, Sero _ does _ want to be in a relationship with Fujita. This is why Iida chose the barb he did: he knew it would sting. If Sero is unsure about Iida's relationship status, or was merely teasing him about his burgeoning closeness with Bakugou, Iida's stupid reply will make Sero assume he's hit on the truth.

He ruminates on it the entire trip home, biting his lip to shreds and picking his fingernails down to the quick. When he gets back, the apartment is empty, of course; he hasn't given Bakugou a key. Iida considers texting him to tell him he's home now, but decides against it. He ends up sitting on his bed in the dark, alternately checking his messages and staring at the wall.

Luckily - because, no matter how bad a mood one is in, staring at a wall can get boring quickly - Bakugou arrives not long after. "Hello?" he calls. Iida doesn't move, just sits there, knowing in a minute Bakugou will come and investigate.

"Hellooo," Bakugou says again, this time from the doorway to the bedroom. After he sees Iida, he flips on the light. "Everything okay in here?"

"Yes, fine," Iida says, although Bakugou's familiar enough with his routine to know Iida doesn't regularly sit in the darkness, staring at the wall.

"Uh-huh, sure," Bakugou says, crossing his arms. "Anyway, I figured you had to stay late with Tape-head and I wouldn't be able to get in here to cook until late, so I picked up some dinner. Come on, it's getting cold."

Afterwards, with a belly full of delicious food, the problem doesn't seem as overwhelming to Iida - but he still doesn't want to talk about it, not with Bakugou. Iida will think of a strategy by himself, and act on it to right the situation.

So when, after the meal, Bakugou asks him again what's bothering him, Iida sighs and decides to go with a vague answer. It's easier than lying. "I said something stupid to Sero," he says.

"That's not that bad," Bakugou says. "He says stupid things all the time. You'll have to say a _ lot _ of dumb shit to one-up him."

Iida smiles, grateful for Bakugou's discretion. He could pry more, but he does not. Iida changes the subject and they engage in small talk, but in the back of his mind he is formulating a plan.

He wakes early the next day, a little surprised at how lonely it feels to go about his morning routine without Bakugou there. He's waking up just as Iida is preparing to leave.

"Bakugou," Iida says, standing beside him at the bedside, "I forgot to do something last night, so I'm going in to work early."

Bakugou opens one eye blearily and mumbles something incomprehensible.

"I'm leaving my spare key on the kitchen table," Iida says. "Lock up before you go, please."

That causes Bakugou to open both eyes. "Okay," he says. "Bye."

"Bye. See you at work."

Iida finds Sero, who normally comes to work earlier, at his desk; Sero's face is blank as they wish one another a good morning. Iida glances around the office: it's empty, as far as he can see. Still, he keeps his voice low. "Sero, I need to apologize. What I said yesterday was completely out of line."

Sero, still sitting in his desk chair while Iida stands, looks up at him, his expression unreadable. "What are you apologizing for, exactly?"

Iida sighs. "Look, I want to clear something up. I don't know exactly what you were implying when you asked about how it was going with Bakugou, but he and I are not romantically involved."

Sero raises his eyebrows, but says nothing.

"I felt uncomfortable by the implication, so I lashed out," Iida says. "I realized immediately afterwards that that was an unkind and foolish thing to do. I - I don't know anything about your relationship status with Fujita, I just know - Bakugou has made, ah, inappropriate comments, and in a moment of impropriety I latched onto the probably false impression I'd gotten from him about your, your feelings for Fujita. So, please forgive me."

He's at least 90% sure this little speech has made things worse. Sero is staring up at him with wide eyes, looking genuinely confused. After a moment his expression clears; he smiles and shakes his head. "Iida," he says. "Iida, it's fine."

He blinks. "Really?"

"I get what you meant when you said it yesterday," Sero goes on. "You had as much right to make your comment as I had to make mine. And in a way, you're helping me out."

"H-how?" Sero's smile seems genuine, but Iida does not get what he's saying.

"I consider it a warning. I didn't realize how obvious I was. You said - you said Bakugou told you? That he picked up on it?"

"Yes," Iida says slowly. "That's right."

Sero sighs. "Alright, well, I appreciate it. I'll try to be a little less schoolboy-ish about it from now on."

"Sero, Bakugou and I-"

"I get it!" He holds up his hands in front of him, palms out. "I get it, man. It _ was _inappropriate for me to say anything. Let's both take this as a warning and move on, yeah?"

He turns back to his computer, and Iida is left standing there, fists clenched, wanting to say, _ No, you've got it wrong, _but struck dumb. He's happy enough to have reached a truce of any kind with Sero; the shock and hurt Iida saw on his face the day before is still vivid in his mind. But on the other hand, Sero is laboring under a misapprehension, which Iida wishes to correct.

He's out of time for now, though. Others start arriving just then, and Iida's forced to walk back to his desk and put the matter behind him. He replays the conversation in his mind, trying to think of things he can say to make his point more clear; soon, though, he's swept up in work and can linger on it no longer.

Iida has to stay late again, and doesn't get the chance to talk to Bakugou until that evening. When he enters his apartment, the lights are on and the air's filled with the scent of cooking food; Bakugou's standing by the stove, stirring something. When Iida walks in and Bakugou turns around, smiles, and says "Hey", Iida is surprised at the warmth he feels to come home to someone already there, happy to see him.

Later, after they finish eating, Bakugou looks across the table at Iida, his chin resting on his hand with his elbow on the table. "You can tell me, you know," he says, smirking.

"What?"

"I think I know you well enough by now to be able to tell you're still distracted by something. Is it work?"

Iida rubs the back of his neck and sighs. He's never been able to hide his feelings, and he hates lying - even hates telling half-truths. "Kind of…"

"You're basically my therapist by this point," Bakugou says. "Don't feel bad about making me return the favor."

Iida swallows and nods. He knows his preoccupation with this is silly, but he's worried that Bakugou might be upset about Sero's misconception. After a moment he decides the pros of talking about it outweigh the cons. "I think Sero thinks we're dating."

Bakugou looks at Iida for a moment after he's done speaking, as if he's waiting for more. "That's it?" he says at last. "That's what you've been worrying about since yesterday?"

"Yes - well, kind of." Iida sighs again. "Yesterday at work, when it was just him and I, he surprised me by saying, out of the blue, 'How's it going with you and Bakugou?'"

"Uh-huh…"

"And instead of saying something like 'I don't know what you mean' or 'You're mistaken,' I said, 'How's it going with you and Fujita?'"

"You…" Bakugou stares at him. After a moment he starts laughing. "Did you really? You really said that?"

"Yes…"

"Oh my fucking God, I can't believe you, _ you, _ Iida, said that to him. You are such an asshole!"

"It's just - he surprised me, is all," Iida says, rather taken aback. This isn't the reaction he was expecting, not at all. "I must have been thinking of your comments about him 'mooning' over her."

"That's so fucking funny. Goddamnit, I'm proud of you."

"Stop it!" Iida says, shoving him lightly. He's starting to laugh too now. "I'm being serious! I felt bad, so I went in early today to apologize to him. I don't think he's upset at me, but he still seems to think you and I are a couple. Or something."

"Oh, okay," Bakugou says. "Whatever."

"It…" Iida looks at him for a moment. "It doesn't bother you?"

"No. People are going to think what they're going to think. Like, considering we always arrive at exactly the same time, on exactly the same train…"

"Yes," Iida says, "yes, I figured people would make assumptions." He keeps looking at Bakugou, trying to read his face. Iida knows him pretty well by now, he thinks, and he cannot see any ill feelings in his expression. Bakugou doesn't seem to be angry or upset at him at all, so he asks the question that springs to his mind: "But when you were dating Todoroki, you made an effort to keep your relationship completely secret, didn't you?"

"Oh." Bakugou's smile fades. "Well, that wasn't on my behalf."

"He was the one…?"

"Yup," Bakugou says. "I would have been perfectly fine not hiding it. I'm out to pretty much everyone, you know? But he's not, and he also just, like… he's a private person. Doesn't like the press - not that I do either, of course. But he _ really _doesn't like them. Keeps himself to himself. He'd just about die if there was even a picture of us holding hands in a magazine or something." Iida nods, unsure of what to say. Bakugou keeps talking, his tone lighter now: "How did this become all about me again? I keep doing that, don't I? Blabbering on about myself."

"I don't mind," Iida says. He really doesn't, and he hopes Bakugou knows it. "I'm glad you feel you can confide in me."

"And, seriously," Bakugou says, "you can tell me stuff like that, too."

"I did just now, and you laughed at me!"

"That's - that's because it was fucking funny!" He pauses. "Are you really offended?"

"No, of course not." Iida's just glad Bakugou isn't angry at him. The problem did sound a lot sillier when voiced aloud. He's laughing at himself for worrying so much, too.

"Does…" Bakugou pauses, his eyebrows furrowed. "Does it bother you that Sero thinks that about us?"

Iida has to stop and consider that for a moment. He's been so concerned about not offending Sero and then Bakugou that he never stopped to consider how Sero's misconception would actually affect him. "No," he says after a pause, and Bakugou's face relaxes a little. "I don't care what Sero thinks. I don't really care if others think that, too. But what if…"

"What?"

Iida meets Bakugou's eyes. "What if Fujita thinks we are dating and we get in trouble? I still don't know if it's against the rules! I don't want her to think…"

He trails off because of how hard Bakugou's laughing. "Just ask her," Bakugou says, when it finally subsides.

"What?"

"I'm serious - ask her! No need to say who you're talking about. You can even phrase it as a theoretical. If she says it's against the rules, we'll just not go in to work at the same time." He stares at Iida levelly. "We aren't breaking any rules by being roommates."

"R-right," Iida says, nodding. "I think I will ask her." He smiles. "Thank you!"

It's a bit of a strange situation - to think of talking to his boss about a relationship that he isn't actually in. But he's just glad he can discuss it with Bakugou. It just shows how far they've come, how close they've grown, that Iida no longer fears him at all - he values Bakugou's input, even if it means he's subject to his laughter now and then, too.


	8. Chapter 8

After Bakugou leaves on Saturday morning, Iida decides to go to the gym. When he returns to his apartment, Bakugou is back too - and he's cleaning. The floors have already been swept, Iida can see, and Bakugou's since moved on to mopping. "Don't wanna feel like I owe you anything," is all the explanation he gives when Iida asks.

"Can - can I help you?"

"No!" Bakugou seems offended by the very idea. "Get out of here, you're in my way!"

So Iida takes a hasty shower and flees his own home. Bakugou's being productive, so Iida wants to be, too; he goes grocery shopping, taking his time in the hope that Bakugou will be done when he returns. But as he shops, he has a smile on his face at the entire situation - Bakugou is _ cleaning his house. _ How surreal.

On the train ride home, groceries in his arms, something occurs to Iida. It hits him like a sledgehammer, as sudden as if someone else had whispered it in his ear. He's smiling and thinking how glad he is to not be coming home to an empty house, and it dawns on him: _ I'm happy. _

It's the most natural thing in the world. He isn't sure why the realization is just settling in now, but it fits him so well he knows instantly it must be true.

* * *

Iida is fumbling with the lock to his apartment when his phone rings. His work phone, he realizes with a start. He isn't on call, but there's always the chance of something big happening, some villain the rest of the agency can't handle; he feels obligated to answer even though he technically does not have to. Setting his groceries on the ground outside his door, Iida answers the phone with shaking hands.

It's Fujita. "Hello Iida, sorry to bother you," she says, and from her tone he can tell it's not an emergency - she sounds professional, businesslike, not like there are villains overwhelming the agency. Iida relaxes a little. "Do you have a minute to chat?"

"Yes," he says, shifting his phone to his other hand so he can finally unlock the door. Bakugou's in the kitchen, and Iida sees his curious gaze as he comes over to help bring the groceries inside. "What's up?"

"I got an update on your case just now," she says. "The two women involved both pled guilty."

"Oh," Iida says. "Okay." He isn't sure if that's a good thing or not. It probably is. "That's good."

"Yes," Fujita says. "I'm crossing my fingers the men plead guilty, too, so you can avoid a trial, but we'll just have to see. And… one more thing." Her tone seems suddenly much less confident. Iida gets the feeling she has news that's harder for her to say.

"Yes?"

"I've heard rumors they're, uh… they're trying to cash in."

He sees Bakugou watching him closely, but Iida's unsure how much of Fujita's side he can hear through the phone. "What do you mean?"

"A friend of mine who's in the industry says they're contacting people, trying to get a piece about them run," Fujita says. "Their take on what happened, their side of the story… Obviously her magazine didn't take them up on that, but someone definitely might. Some publishers just think of the money and don't care about anything else."

"Oh," Iida says. He swallows dryly, then realizes he's still standing in the doorway of his apartment, door still open. He shuts it, leaning against it heavily. Bakugou's watching him, the groceries still on the ground. "Uh. Is that… is that legal?"

"Yes," Fujita says, sounding apologetic. "I suppose they'd probably wait until after sentencing to publish it, but I can't imagine _ everyone's _going to turn that kind of interview down. It was a big deal, you know? Everyone's hungry for a follow-up."

"Oh." Iida feels stupid - he can't think of anything else to say. "Okay."

"Iida," Fujita says, "as your boss, and as someone who cares about you, can I offer some advice?"

Slowly, he makes his way to the kitchen and sits down on a chair. "Okay."

"You should get in there first!" Her voice is loud in Iida's ear, enough to make him wince. He'd be surprised if Bakugou _ couldn't _hear it, honestly. "Contact a newspaper or a magazine and give your side of the story. I can give you my friend's contact information - she could get it in print quickly. She already promised me she'd run it ASAP if you get in touch with her. If those women do get an interview, if they spin their story right, there's a very real possibility they may make themselves look quite a lot better than they are. It's easy, in situations like this where nobody died, to forget that there were real human victims."

"Uh-huh."

"It would do the public good to be reminded." She sighs. "Sorry. That's just the manager in me. You know how I get sometimes. Look, I can tell you aren't enthusiastic about this idea, but give it at least a little thought, would you? This is something from me to you personally - not related to work. You are free to ignore me if you want. It's just my advice to you."

"Do - do the others know? Todoroki and Bakugou?"

"I'm going to call them next," she says. "Promise me you'll think about it?"

"Okay."

"Thanks," she says. "I'll see you Monday."

"See you Monday."

She hangs up first, and Iida's left staring blankly at his phone, a little numb. Not ten seconds after the call is ended, Iida receives a text - a name and phone number.

He tucks the phone into his pocket and looks at Bakugou. "Could you hear her?"

"Not really." Bakugou sits down too, pulling his chair closer to Iida. "That was Fujita, right? What was that all about?"

"The - the two women, they pled guilty," Iida says. "And Fujita thinks they're going to do an interview of some kind, to try and get their story out. After they're sentenced, that is."

"What was she saying towards the end?"

"She says I should contact someone myself. She has some friend who works at a magazine, and she said she'd give me her contact info. She wants me to tell my side of the story before they tell theirs - and that she'll contact you and Todoroki soon."

Bakugou sets his work phone on the table. Somehow the motion reminds Iida that his groceries are still sitting in bags on the floor, and he rises to put them away.

Almost fifteen minutes pass before Bakugou's phone rings. He makes eye contact with Iida, then picks up a few seconds later. Iida can't make out Fujita's words, but their conversation is shorter than the one he just had with her. Bakugou sounds polite enough, but after he's done, he throws his phone down onto the table with a snarl. "That fucking bitch!"

Iida looks at him in alarm. "Are you talking about Fujita?"

"Yeah! She didn't mention her friend, didn't tell me to contact anyone. She said those women pled guilty, they might have an interview, blah blah blah, but then she just hung up!"

"Oh…"

"Does she not think my story should be told? Does she think I'm not good enough for her friend's magazine?" Bakugou looks furious. His fists rest on top of the table, balled up so tight his knuckles are white. "I can't fucking _ believe _this shit."

"You could still go to the press," Iida says, voice quiet. "I can send you her friend's contact information. Or - or speak to someone else entirely. Any magazine would be lucky to get your story."

"Are you going to do it? Contact anyone?"

Iida closes his eyes. The question's a bitter one. On the one hand, he knows Fujita is right: if the villains are going to try and sway the public in their favor, nothing would stop that in its tracks quite hearing the victims' story. Kidnapping on its own is a light sentence, a year or two at the absolute most, and probably less since the women pled guilty; it won't be long before they're out and looking for book deals. Iida does not like the idea of them profiting from their crime.

But on the other hand, the idea of telling a magazine or newspaper about his time in captivity - and have it printed in an article and read by the world - is daunting and ugly. Iida wants nothing more than to leave this all behind him. But it cannot be left behind, because it isn't even over yet.

"I don't know," Iida says, feeling tired. Half an hour ago, he was practically humming with joy, but now he wants nothing more than to go to bed for days. "I need to give it thought." He looks at Bakugou. "What about you?"

"Fuck," Bakugou says, sighing. "I don't know either. The worst is that we can't take our time to decide, not if we want to get published before the other article."

"It should be illegal, what they're doing," Iida says. "Profiting from a crime." Iida doesn't actually know that the women are profiting; maybe they aren't making any money off their story. Maybe it's just a rumor, maybe no one will want to publish it anyway. Maybe they were never looking to do an interview in the first place - it could just be a ploy by Fujita's friend to get the inside scoop. Iida cannot know for sure.

"You said they're doing it after sentencing, right?" Bakugou asks.

Iida nods. "That's what Fujita said."

"It makes sense. Did she say when their sentencing will be?"

Iida frowns. "No - I can text her."

"It's okay," Bakugou says, but Iida does it anyways. Fujita only takes a moment to respond: **Wednesday.**

"That gives us a little time," Bakugou says, but for all they know, there will be an article in the paper Thursday morning. It's not much time at all.

Suddenly Bakugou leans towards Iida, his gaze intent. "You look…" He narrows his eyes. "You look - are you okay?"

"What?" Iida puts a hand on his own cheek. "I'm - I'm as fine as anyone can be in this situation, I suppose. How are you doing?"

"Don't worry about me," Bakugou says. "I'm fine. You should - you should go nap or something. You look really fucking tired."

Hearing the words makes Iida realize it's true, he _ is _quite tired. He nods and stands. "I think you're right," he says. "Excuse me."

He collapses into bed and is asleep within minutes.

* * *

He thinks about it for the rest of the day and all day Sunday. But Iida's thoughts are only half absorbed with the decision he must make; the other half is still fuming on Bakugou's behalf. Why _ hadn't _ Fujita given him the same information she'd given Iida? Whether she thought he'd do an interview or not is irrelevant, Iida thinks. It's the nature of the thing. She should have at least offered.

On Monday morning, he enters Fujita's office and closes the door behind him. "I need to talk to you."

"Iida," she says, voice neutral, polite smile on her face. "What's up?"

"You told me about your friend at the magazine," he says. "You advised me to contact her or someone else. Why didn't you tell this to Bakugou?"

Her smile falters. "Excuse me?"

Iida inhales, decides there and then to tell the full story - the necessary bits, anyway. "Bakugou and I were together when you called on Saturday," he says. "I told him what you told me. I thought you'd tell him everything. Then, you… didn't."

Her mouth's a straight line now. "Iida, after I got off the phone with you, I called Todoroki before Bakugou. Todoroki's going to do an interview. I felt it would be unnecessary to pass that message on when Todoroki had already given his word."

"Your friend - wouldn't she think two sources are better than one?"

Fujita looks up at him, eyebrows raised in surprise. Iida soldiers on. "Wouldn't she prefer to interview two of the captives?"

"I…"

_ You're making excuses, _ he wants to say, but he cannot be so blunt. "You could have given Bakugou the contact information and let him make the decision himself. Maybe they both would have been interviewed. Maybe that would have been the better story."

"Iida," she says, "does Bakugou often follow others' suggestions, even when he knows their intentions are good? If I suggested it to him, if I put the idea in his head, would he be more or less likely to do it than if he thought of it himself?"

Iida is silent.

"Exactly." She taps her pen on the table for emphasis. "I will admit I handled it unprofessionally. I should have allowed for this possibility, that you would talk to each other. I'm sorry for that."

Iida squints at her. He cannot tell if this is just her way of slithering out of a lie or if it really was her reasoning all along. She's keeping her face carefully neutral, and Iida can read nothing from it. "I see," he says at last, feeling the fire fade out of him. He's not sure what to think anymore, not sure if his anger's justified, but he somehow can't bring himself to apologize to her.

"Do you need anything else?" she says.

"No, that's all."

"Please shut the door behind you," she says, a note of finality in her voice.

Later that day Iida gets the chance to talk to Todoroki. He's not sure whether Fujita was supposed to tell him about Todoroki's interview. He can't bring himself to care, just finds him later that day after he's returned from a shift and says, "I heard you're giving an interview soon."

Todoroki looks at him with what might be mild surprise, nodding once.

"Thank you," Iida says. "I couldn't decide… I didn't want to, but I felt…"

He trails off, but Todoroki nods again. "I understand," he says. "Anyway - I already did it."

"You did?"

"Yes. Yesterday. I was told it will be in the next edition of _The _ _ Weekly Shield, _ the one coming out Wednesday."

_The __Weekly Shield _\- literally the widest-read hero magazine in the entire country. Iida inhales sharply. Fujita's friend is well-connected, he thinks. "Excellent. I'll be sure to read it."

" said Fujita told you?" Todoroki says, after a pause.

"Yes, that's right, she-"

"Did she tell Bakugou too?"

"I don't know," Iida says. "I don't think so."

For a moment he's nervous that Todoroki will ask him to keep it a secret, but to his surprise, Todoroki says, "Could you tell Bakugou for me? I don't want him to panic and think he's got to give an interview for all our sakes."

"Okay," Iida says, wondering what it means, that Todoroki wants Bakugou to know, but does not want to tell him himself. Is it hate, or kindness? "I'll let him know today."

* * *

"Oh. Huh."

"Yeah, he - he told me to tell you."

"I still hadn't decided yet," Bakugou says. "Guess now I don't have to."

They're in the kitchen, Bakugou making dinner, Iida hovering nearby. Iida could have chosen a better time to begin this discussion, but he felt the less time Bakugou spent worrying about it, the better.

"I'm glad, too," Iida says. "I have faith in Todoroki to represent our side of the story well." He looks at Bakugou closely. It's a statement, but also a question - there's an unspoken _ Do you agree? _ tacked on the end.

Bakugou thinks about a moment, then shrugs. "Yeah," he says. "Yeah, I'm sure he'll be fine."

"It surprised me, though," Iida goes on. "I thought you said Todoroki hates talking to the press, that he's very private."

"He hates it when it's not on his own terms." Bakugou gives the pasta a stir. "Shouto would much rather it be done how he wants it. An exclusive interview, where he's quoted accurately? Maybe even one he gets to read and approve before it's printed? That's right up his alley."

_ Shouto, _ Iida thinks. He notices every time Bakugou says the name, now. "I see. That makes sense."

"And he rushed to make sure I knew because he doesn't want me giving my own interview and saying anything weird," Bakugou says. "And by weird I mean, like… outing him."

"Oh."

"But it'll be fine. I'm not worried. Shouto will be fair."

* * *

True to form, the magazine comes out on Wednesday.

Iida sees Todoroki's intense, artfully-lit face looking at him from a kiosk at the subway station, and begins reading the article on the ride to work, so engrossed he nearly misses his stop. When he gets to the agency, he sits down at his desk and continues reading, not caring if Fujita sees. (He'd bet money he's not the only one there reading it, anyway.)

**CAPTURED AND QUIRKLESS,** the cover reads. **SHOUTO TELLS ALL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW.**

_ While his first claim to fame was being the child of former No.1 hero Endeavor, Shouto has made a name for himself in his three years as a pro hero. He has a reputation for being competent and level-headed; while his avoidance of the limelight means he hasn't had the astronomical rise of many in his famously successful U.A. graduating class, he's still a familiar and well-liked face for those who follow pro heroes. (He was #7 on our recent "25 under 25" list, and #5 the year before.) _

_ But the public was shocked when, last month, Shouto was kidnapped, along with Ground Zero and Ingenium, two other pro heroes from his agency. The case baffled the police and public alike with its strangeness - and the lack of explanation in the aftermath has been frustrating for all those still wondering how this could have happened. _

The Weekly Shield_ was lucky enough to sit down with Shouto for an exclusive one-on-one interview, the first any of the three heroes have given since the incident. Read on to find out what the ordeal was like from his point of view, how he's been coping since, and more. _

_ Shouto's most striking features are those that set him apart from the pro heroes that surround him. I'm not referring to his eyes and hair, but rather his stature - he is quite thin compared to the vast majority of male heroes - and his quietness. Shouto is a man who gets his point across not by shouting, but by whispering - but when he talks, it's impossible not to listen. _

_ "The first thing we all remembered was waking up in a room with no windows or doors," he says, when I ask him to tell me about his time in captivity. His voice shows little emotion, but his hesitation in recalling the story belies the pain at these memories. "None of us had any memory of how we got there. We weren't in our hero costumes. There was no sign of anyone else." _

_ In fact, the defining feature of the five days and six nights the heroes spent in captivity seems to be the solitude: the entire time, they were never contacted by their kidnappers and never had any idea what was going on in the outside world. "That was probably the worst of it," Shouto recalls. "The lights turned off at night, but we had no other sense of time, no way to know what was happening. Were we being held for ransom? Were we going to be killed? We had no clue." _

_ Wondering why they didn't escape? I was, too. Shouto's got powerful fire skills, after all - not to mention Ground Zero's explosive capabilities. They've all escaped from worse scrapes than this - so what gives? _

_ "From the very first day, our Quirks didn't work," Shouto tells me. "We found out afterwards that it was because of the Quirk that some of our captors had. But they were only making us _ think _ we were Quirkless, I guess. They also made us think there was no door - but, just like our Quirks, the door was right there, all along." _

_ The Quirk in question is called Blindfold, and its users in this case are sisters Kyou and Miyako Takahashi. (They recently pled guilty, and do not dispute their involvement in the kidnapping.) Blindfold convinces the subjects that something is not there - in this case, both the door and the heroes' own Quirks. It depends on close proximity; according to the information Shouto was given, one of the two sisters was constantly in the room directly above the captured heroes, watching at all times. _

The Weekly Shield _ did some research and found that Blindfold is rare, with no records of it outside of this branch of the sisters' family. That's lucky for other professional heroes - Shouto says it was quite a shock to be rendered Quirkless. _

_ "I felt completely powerless," he says, looking away. "For someone who uses their Quirk on a day to day basis, it's extremely difficult to get used to losing it." Shouto likens it to losing your voice and forgetting again and again that you're unable to talk. "I didn't realize how much I use my Quirk until I couldn't anymore." _

_ The kidnappers also used Blindfold to sneak in at night to leave food and books for the heroes, which puzzled them to no end. "We had all sorts of theories about how they were doing it," he says. "At first, we thought there was a secret entrance, but we searched all over and never found one. It drove me crazy not to know." _

_ Shouto may be known as cool and collected, but the fellow heroes taken with him do not have the same reputation. So how was it to be kept with an explosive person like Ground Zero, and loud, friendly Ingenium? Were there conflicts? "Oh, yes," Shouto says immediately. "Of course." He doesn't go into depth about what these were, despite my repeated attempts to pry. "If you put any three people in a room together for long enough, you'll have conflicts," he says. "It doesn't matter who the people are." Did any physical fights break out? Shouto demurs again, but it's worth noting that none of the three were injured at the time of rescue, so whatever inter-hero conflicts might have occured must not have been bad enough to leave lasting marks. _

_ So how has it been, adjusting to the outside world? Has he noticed his time in captivity leaving any marks? Shouto hesitates for a long time before answering this question. "I think so," he says at last. "I'm more cautious, not just when I'm working, but when I'm out of uniform, too. As a hero and as a public figure, it's important to never let one's guard down. I'm more vigilant now." _

_ What was the thing he was most eager to do after he got out? What did he do first? "I took a bath," Shouto says, cracking a smile for the first time. He explains that while they had use of a shower for the first couple of days, it was eventually turned off: "We got the idea that we might escape by plugging the shower and flooding the room. We thought maybe the weight of the water would collapse the floor." Though they knew it was a shot in the dark, Shouto says they were willing to try anything to escape. But their plan failed, leaving them only with wet floors and crushed hopes. _

_ It isn't often heroes become victims - and even less common for them to be so honest about it. If anything good comes out of this, Shouto hopes it's a willingness for heroes to be more open about the times they fail. "We as pro heroes are expected to be flawless. If we make a mistake, it's a huge mark on our record. There's a lot of pressure to keep up the façade of absolute strength," he says. "But any hero can mess up. Any hero can be caught unawares. There's no need for us to pretend to be untouchable - we're human, too." _

_ I think that's an admirable goal. So our next issue will be dedicated to weakness - the sides of _

Iida shuts the magazine and places it face-down on his desk.

It felt strange to read, like seeing his own life through someone else's eyes. But Bakugou was right - there was nothing too embarrassing there. Even the story of their unsuccessful escape was painted as a mutual effort, the burden of its failure shared amongst the three of them.

But reading it reminds him of everything. Iida heaves a shuddering sigh.

If it had been him speaking with a reporter, his _ hesitation at recalling the story _ would not _ belie the pain of his memories; _ he would probably be outright crying. He's glad beyond words that Todoroki has the ability to keep a cool head and spit out something bland for a reporter. Iida thought he had the skill, but he does not, not really.

Iida stares down at the magazine on his desk. He feels sick, the sensation as solid and heavy as a weight in his gut.

Keeping his eyes downcast, he makes his way to Fujita's office. She's on the phone, but says "Hold on," and covers the receiver with her hand. "Iida, I just heard. The women had their sentencing today."

"Oh…"

"They both got six months," she says. "That's about standard, since they pled. If only Todoroki's article came out a little earlier, the judge might have - oh, did you read it, by the way? I've got extra copies, if you need one."

"Yes, I read it. Excuse me, I'm feeling sick. I'm going home," Iida says, and leaves without waiting for her reply.

* * *

He naps most of the rest of the day, only waking up for good when he hears the front door open. A minute later Bakugou perches on the edge of the bed and looks down on Iida, frowning. "You okay?"

Iida rolls over onto his back and reaches blindly towards his bedside table, finding his glasses. He has no idea what time it is; his body's telling him it's the middle of the night, but the sun's still coming through the shades. "Yeah," he says, though his mouth feels cottony and his eyes are blurry. "Yeah, fine."

"You don't really seem fine," Bakugou says. He presses a hand to Iida's forehead, taking his temperature. "You left work early? Fujita said you weren't feeling good."

"That was just because…" Iida thinks back. It seems immature now. He read Todoroki's article and felt, well - felt _ something, _ anyways. Sick and bad, but he isn't sure why. "Did you read the article?"

Bakugou's brow furrows. "Yeah I did, but what are you talking about?"

Iida props himself up into a sitting position. "What did you think about it?"

"Uh, well, I think the interviewer was probably spoon-feeding him those lines, because there's no way he could have come up with all of those things on his own," Bakugou says. "But it was okay." He peers closely at Iida. "Why? What did you think?"

"Oh, it was fine," Iida says. He checks his phone; it's five, about the time they normally come home. "I liked it enough, I suppose."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Bakugou asks him again.

"Yes, I already said I am. Why do you keep asking?"

"You…" He shakes his head. "You're ridiculous. You leave work early and sleep all day and get indignant when I ask you if you're okay? Look at yourself!" Iida has to admit he has a point, but before he can say anything, Bakugou adds, "Also, you look like crap."

"Thanks," Iida says dryly, bringing a hand up to smooth down his hair, which he suddenly notices is sticking up in back. "I appreciate that."

"No, I mean - you're pale, your eyes are red," Bakugou says. "You actually look sick."

"I think I was just overtired. I should be better after napping."

Bakugou looks at him a long moment. Iida feels laid bare beneath his gaze, as if Bakugou might know his thoughts before he does. "You know, you can tell me anything," he says.

Iida wants to tell Bakugou what's bothering him, but he doesn't even know what it is, himself. "I know," he says. "I appreciate it. I trust you."

For a moment they're silent, then Bakugou says, "Did you leave work because of the article?"

Iida thinks about it. "I suppose I did."

"Was… was there something in it that bothered you?"

"No," Iida says, "no, I think the article itself was fine."

Bakugou considers this for a moment. "So was it the article itself?"

"I…" Iida wishes Bakugou's questions weren't quite so pointed. They leave him no place to hide. "I suppose so."

"I think I get it," Bakugou says. "I think I understand."

"You do?"

"Of course I do, idiot," Bakugou says, his tone affectionate. "I'm pretty much the only person who does, right? And you get me, too."

_ Oh, _Iida thinks. He's right. Iida doesn't even need to explain with words; Bakugou knows already, because he feels the same. Maybe not exactly the same, but near enough - like how Iida has never actually had nightmares since their escape, but still understands the feeling of seeing the same closed-off, windowless room behind his eyelids.

It feels like too much for Iida, all of a sudden. He feels the prickle behind his eyes that means tears are imminent. Bakugou sees it too, and Iida expects him to ignore the tears, to carry on like they're not there; but, instead, Bakugou leans forward and puts his arms around Iida, hugging him.

Iida is crying in earnest now, and Bakugou is letting him, pulling him closer. There are a lot of things Iida wants to say but doesn't: like how stupid it is, that after fighting monsters and villains and serial killers, a pain-free half-week in captivity reduces him to this state. It doesn't make sense; it's pathetic, really. In addition to the heavy sick feeling he's had all day, Iida now feels the skin-crawling sensation of self-loathing. He wants to hold himself at arm's length and make himself realize that part of being a hero is times like these, and learning to get over them, and he's got to hurry so he can be useful again.

But he doesn't have to find the words to express any of this. Bakugou already knows, because Bakugou feels it too. So the only sound is Iida's crying, which fades over the course of several minutes until everything is silent; then the two of them sit in one another's arms, wordless, letting the warmth of the shared touch wash over them like a wave.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I had changed the story's rating to M for the discussion of sex in the previous chapter, but after thinking about it it a little I decided to switch it back to T. Sorry for going back and forth about that!

Thank you to everyone who's cheering me on with this story. I keep having doubts about it, but the reviews are pushing me through. I really appreciate everyone who's reading along as I write.


	9. Chapter 9

The following Monday, when Iida sees two unfamiliar women in civilian clothes on the front of _HeroMag_ \- or, as he once heard Sero refer to it, the trashier little sibling of _Weekly Shield _\- he pauses, because it's not often they feature non-heroes on the cover. He only needs to read the headline (**HERO-KIDNAPPING SISTERS TELL ALL!**) to know who they are, and he puts the magazine back.

No one brings it up to Iida at work, but he sees the magazine everywhere he looks - more places than he saw the cover with Todoroki the week before. "It's a hot mess," Sero tells him, when Iida asks for his opinion on the article itself. "It seems like they panicked when Todoroki's interview was published and tried to sanitize theirs, to make it seem less scummy. There's some weird paragraph at the end about how the magazine doesn't 'endorse their actions,' and the tone is all over the place, like it was edited last minute. They can't decide whether to portray them as, like, celebrities, or criminal masterminds, or what. It's _ so _badly written."

Despite what Sero said in his surprisingly detailed critique, Iida thinks the quality of the writing probably does not stop people from purchasing the magazine - he keeps seeing the women's faces again and again until the next issue of the magazine comes out.

Iida never reads it. He's made his mind up; maybe he'll change it someday, but he isn't ready yet. Todoroki's article was bad enough; Iida does not want to think of how negatively he might be affected by this one. He wishes he hadn't even seen the picture, because he doesn't want to know the women's faces at all.

Bakugou doesn't read it either, so they don't discuss it much. And, slowly, little by little, it fades, it all fades, but the routine he shares with Bakugou is the same, and Iida is glad about that.

He realizes a few weeks later that the idea of Bakugou going back to his own apartment permanently is more than distasteful - it's frightening. Somehow the best things in Iida's life all seem to involve Bakugou: getting home from work and having someone to eat dinner with, listening to the sound of his breaths as the two of them drift off to sleep, and, most of all, those unguarded conversations they have nearly every night. It feels so natural to be with him that Iida shudders to imagine living any other way.

After days of thinking about it, he decides to ask Bakugou to move in with him. It seems the best way to ensure this happiness does not slip from his grasp.

Iida begins the conversation in what he hopes is a subtle way: "Your apartment now - are you on a month-to-month lease?"

"No, a year." Bakugou's tone is casual, but the abrupt way he looks at Iida is not. (Iida is probably not as subtle as he hoped to be.) "But it ends in two months, and I haven't renewed it yet."

"Why not just move in with me?" Iida says. "I think we've-"

"Yes," Bakugou says, without an ounce of hesitation, and Iida smiles.

* * *

Iida would be a fool to not consider what this means. Not what it might seem like to others; Iida's already established their mutual apathy regarding what the world thinks about them. No, something like this _ means _something - it can't not. Even Iida and his lack of experience can see that. Before, that they shared a bed was explained by Bakugou's nightmares and the emotional support Iida provided. Bakugou coming over all the time was to cook, of course, which was his way of repaying Iida. But for Iida to say now that there's any purpose to them living together besides his unabashed affection for Bakugou would be a lie.

The idea of confronting what, exactly, they are - the thought of looking for the best word to describe this closeness - is a little more than Iida can handle. In a very un-Iida-like fashion, he decides to stop thinking about it and let it rest for a while. Not forever; but for the time being, he decides to simply go with the flow.

* * *

There's no rush for Bakugou to move out of his old apartment, not with two months left on his lease, so they take a casual approach to it. On days they both have off, the two of them take the train over, pack a few boxes, and bring them back to Iida's place. It's not convenient, but it's cheaper than renting a moving truck - and it lets Iida see Bakugou's apartment for the first time.

He knows it hasn't properly been Bakugou's living space for weeks now, and it shows - it's a little dusty, with no toothbrush by the sink and barely any food in the cupboards. But the homey feel is not completely gone; the shelves are full of books, the closet full of clothes.

Packing up the latter, Iida also finds some that can be tossed or donated, threadbare or full of holes. He also finds a few shirts that look curiously high-quality, but are much, much too small for Bakugou. They couldn't have fit him well in _ years, _ since before his time at U.A., but they hardly look that old. Curious, Iida collects them from their hangers and brings them to Bakugou.

"What about these?" Iida says. "Did they get shrunk in the wash?"

Bakugou is very still.

"Oh," Iida says, looking down at them again. Come to think of it, they don't actually look like Bakugou's style at all. One's even a button-up, which Iida has literally never seen him wear. "Are they Todoroki's?"

"Yeah," Bakugou says, voice quiet.

"So I should…" Iida looks up at Bakugou. "What should I… Why do you still have them?"

Bakugou shrugs.

"Why didn't you just get rid of them? Surely you knew they were there."

"Of course I knew they were there, but it isn't that easy," Bakugou says, shifting where he stands. "I can't just throw his things away - they're not mine to get rid of."

"You haven't given them back to him, either."

Bakugou stares at the clothes in Iida's hands for a moment. Then he raises his gaze and looks Iida dead in the face. "So what?"

"What?"

"I said, _ so fucking what? _ What does it matter to you if I keep his clothes or - or - build a shrine to him? Is it your business?"

Iida returns that gaze, feeling himself blush. "It - it isn't really my business, no."

"Then why do you care?"

They look into each other's eyes, and Iida decides: he will say it now. He isn't even sure what he's saying, but it's the final laying-bare of his soul, the last thing he still has left to share; he has to find the words somehow. If he's not honest - if he keeps this feeling hidden - it will spring up again later and cause more trouble. "Every time you talk about Todoroki, I feel uncomfortable," Iida says at last. "It's been this way since… since shortly after you started spending the night with me. At first I didn't know why."

He's still struggling to gather his words when Bakugou says, "So do you know why now?"

"I think it's because of jealousy. Jealousy and fear." It's just about the hardest thing Iida has ever said. He can't hold Bakugou's gaze any longer, and stares down at Todoroki's shirts, tightening his grip on them. He gets the strange urge to rip the buttons off the button-up on top. "Jealousy that you had that closeness with him at all. Fear that - that you might be with him again. Or that you might still want to be with him, I suppose."

"Iida," Bakugou says, voice low, "what does this mean?"

"You're the best thing in my life right now," Iida says, and he's actually making a confession, isn't he? He swallows, throat dry. "I want to make sure I never - you never-" He has not thought this far. The one time Iida wishes Bakugou would interrupt him, he's as quiet as can be. "Your company over the last few weeks has grown to mean a lot to me, and I find… I find…"

Iida looks up at Bakugou, who is gazing at him with an almost frightening intensity. His eyes look very dark, and his lips are tightly pressed together. Iida has to continue; Bakugou is not going to finish this sentence for him. "I want to be involved in your life in every capacity," Iida says at last. He takes a deep breath. "The thought of you pursuing a relationship with someone other than me is unpleasant. My jealousy is petty, I know. You're allowed to keep whatever mementos of Todoroki you want, and it _ isn't _ my business. But I thought honesty the best policy in this case, so… so that's why."

Bakugou looks at him for a moment, as if making sure he's really done talking. Then he says, "A relationship with someone _ other _than you?"

"What?"

"You said, the thought of me pursuing a relationship with someone other than you is unpleasant…"

"Yes?"

"But the thought of - me and you-"

"Yes," Iida says, voice getting louder, "yes, that's exactly what I'm saying, Bakugou. _ I want to be with you. _I don't know how to do this, I've never done this before. I don't know how to make it any clearer to you. We already live together and sleep together, I think we're doing this in the wrong order, don't you?" He laughs, but the sound is nervous and false even to his own ears.

"You don't just want the platonic things, the bed-sharing, the roommates part," Bakugou says slowly. "You want more?"

"Yes!" Iida's not sure if the situation is funny or just mind-bendingly stupid. "I don't know how to make this clearer!"

"Why are you just mentioning it now?" Bakugou says. "You never said anything before."

"Is it… is it a problem?" Iida honestly hasn't stopped to consider that it might be. He was so caught up in the exploration of his own feelings that he failed to follow his confession to its logical conclusion. He should have thought this through first; he should not have acted so rashly.

"Hey, hang on," Bakugou says, and Iida does not even know what he's doing, but Bakugou must see the fear on his face, must be able to tell he's having second thoughts. "I just mean, why did you only mention it now? It's not like this is the first time I've talked about Shouto, right?"

"'Shouto'," Iida echoes. He shakes his head. "My feelings were - are - confusing to me. I'm not experienced with dealing with my own emotions, as silly as that may sound - particularly emotions of a romantic nature. It's all very new to me."

"You're saying you _ just _figured it out?"

"No. Well, kind of." Iida sighs. "Does it change anything? I must apologize if so - I did not consider the ramifications of my-"

"Of _ course _it changes things," Bakugou says, stepping towards Iida. There is suddenly very little space between them now. Iida grips the clothes like a shield. "You can't just say something like that and expect everything to go on the same as before."

"Ah," Iida says, looking away, "that's - that's-"

"Date me," Bakugou says.

Iida looks back at him. "You want to date?"

"Yeah."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Who else would I mean?"

_ Have you seen me lately? _Iida wants to say. He tries to gesture to himself, but but there's not enough room between them, not with Bakugou as close as he is. "I didn't think you'd want…"

"What are you talking about?" Bakugou says. "You didn't think about what it meant? Sharing a bed, me telling you everything? I've never felt that close to anyone else in my life, _ including _ Shouto. I tell you things I never told him."

"But you're talking about dating," Iida says. "Not platonic-"

"Yes!"

"_ I'm not attractive_," Iida says, with venom, like he's spit out something poisonous. "I'm not Todoroki, I'm not _ you, _ I'm me, I'm _ Iida, _ I'm…"

"Really, _ what _are you talking about," Bakugou says, his voice low, his face taking on that strange, intense look again. "You're sexy as hell."

"I…" Iida stops, considers what Bakugou's just said. "Really?"

"Yes. Have you ever looked in a goddamn mirror? Are you just digging for compliments now? Are you pulling my leg?"

"I'm _ me_," Iida says, "of course I'm not."

"Not kidding, or not sexy?"

"Both."

"Idiot," Bakugou says, "Tenya…" His eyes flick to Iida's, a silent question: _ Was that okay? _

"Katsuki," Iida says in response, drawing out the syllables, testing it.

Bakugou grins. "It all took way too fucking long for you to realize," he says. "How dense can you be?"

"Pretty dense, I suppose."

The only thing between them now is Todoroki's shirts. Iida decides that's too much, and drops them, and suddenly there is nothing between them at all - Bakugou throws his arms around Iida's shoulders and pressed his face into Iida's neck and breathes out his name, _Tenya, _so soft it would be inaudible if they weren't so close. Iida is melting, the touch suddenly too much and not enough at the same time, and tightens his grip, feeling Bakugou warm and solid beneath his hands.

After a minute they break apart. Iida turns away, back towards the closet and the box he was packing. "I'll give those back to Todoroki," he says, picking them up off the floor. "If that's okay with you?"

"Yeah," Bakugou says. "Of course."

They keep packing and say no more about it, but Iida keeps catching Bakugou's eye, and his heart feels light. On the bus ride home, he wants to reach out and take Bakugou's hand, but he's thwarted by the boxes that fill their arms. Iida doesn't get the chance to act on his whim until after they finish dinner that night, when he can reach across the table and set his hand atop Bakugou's. He feels like a child, nervous and fluttery-hearted, and wonders if Bakugou feels the same way. He's done all this before, so maybe he doesn't,but the pink in his cheeks makes Iida wonder.

They're sitting in bed that evening when they finally talk about it again. Iida knows it might be awkward to discuss the specifics in detail, but this is such new territory he doesn't know what's expected. He's terrified to cross a line he didn't even know about. "So are we officially boyfriends now?" he says. "Do you want to tell people, or would you prefer to keep it secret? If the latter, do you mind if I still tell my family?"

"Slow down," Bakugou says. "One question at a time." His tone is light, his face neutral. Physically everything's the same as it's always been between them, the way they sit on the bed, leaning against their pillows, but the topic is so different that Iida's heart is pounding.

"Okay. Are we boyfriends?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Okay, good. I wasn't sure if that was the correct term or if…" Iida stops himself. He cannot ramble; there are still questions he must ask. "Do you want to remain, ah, in the closet, as it were, or do you want to be 'out'? Personally, I am fine with either, so I will follow your decision."

"Look, it doesn't need to be so - so planned," Bakugou says. "We don't need to hide it _ or _ come out. We can just do what we wanna do."

"Okay," Iida says slowly. The words sound good, but he doesn't actually know what that means. "So public displays of affection…?"

"Can we just go with the flow, and see what happens?"

Iida frowns. "I don't really know what that means."

"It means we just do what we feel like at the time."

"But I don't know what that _ entails_," Iida says. "What's allowed? What's not allowed?"

Bakugou looks at him a long moment, then scoots towards him, close enough that their knees touch. It's not a lot of physical contact, but the warmth from Bakugou's body and the knowledge that he's there is comforting to Iida. "Nothing's not allowed," Bakugou says, his voice gentler. "I told you before, I don't really care if people know I like guys or not. If you wanna be out, we can be out. It's all fine with me."

"Okay," Iida says. He nods. "Okay. That's… good to know."

"But it's weird to talk about this when we haven't even _ done _ shit yet," Bakugou says.

"So then," Iida says, breathless, "let's."

Iida is still a little too timid to initiate more than hand-holding, but, thankfully, Bakugou seems to grasp his meaning; he leans forward and kisses Iida. It's pleasant, Iida thinks. Bakugou's lips are soft, and he smells good - well, mostly just like toothpaste - and Iida just likes the idea of it, the knowledge that he's kissing Bakugou. _ After all this time, _ he thinks.

It's like Bakugou reads his thoughts, because he says, "I've been dropping hints for so long, I still can't believe anything fucking happened."

"Sorry," Iida says, smiling. "As I said before, I'm dense."

"It's alright," Bakugou says, and leans in for another kiss.

Almost more so than kissing, Iida learns that night that he loves the chance to hold Bakugou near and just _ look _ at him - at the fiery color of his eyes, startling against his pale skin; at the shape of his mouth and his jaw and neck, the curve of his throat and the fine hairs around his forehead. Iida looks at him, drinking him in, excited and happy to just observe, until Bakugou blushes and frowns and buries his face in Iida's chest. That's nice, too; Iida can stroke his hair and hold him and just feel him beneath his hands. He wonders if Bakugou can hear his heart.

The moment is broken when Iida jolts with surprise, struck by a realization. "I never asked Fujita!" He forgot he was planning to ask at all - the stupid ordeal with the interviews put it out of his mind for weeks.

"Goddamn it, you scared me," Bakugou mumbles, and Iida realizes he might have been asleep.

"I'm sorry," he says, voice quieter. "I just realized I forgot to talk to Fujita about-"

"It's fine."

"But we should probably put off doing anything-"

"I said it's fine," Bakugou says again, more forcefully. "I asked her. She says it's fine."

"You - what? When?"

"Like a week ago." Iida can't see his face, but from his tone he suspects Bakugou might be embarrassed. "I thought you'd probably forgotten, so. She said it was fine as long as long as one person isn't the other person's boss." He snickers. "I guess Tape-head is out of luck, then."

"Thank you," Iida says, relaxing. "I'm - I'm really glad to know. And I'm glad you asked."

Bakugou lifted his head to look curiously at Iida. "If she said no, it wasn't allowed, what would you have done then?"

"That's…" It's a familiar question, of course. Iida thinks back on Bakugou asking it weeks ago… What had he said then? Something about trying to stop his feelings from developing if he thought he was growing too close to a coworker? Bakugou had laughed at him, and now Iida knows why. "I'd probably try to keep it secret, like you did with Todoroki, but I'm not - I'm not as attached to my job as I once was. It wouldn't break my heart to leave it."

It seems like that was a satisfactory answer; he feels Bakugou lay his head back down on his chest. "Maybe you should sleep," Iida says. They have work the next day, and as much as he wants to stay up late, the part of him that says that's a bad idea is still the dominant voice. "We have to get up early tomorrow."

"Mmkay," Bakugou mumbles, and Iida feels warm to hear him be drowsy and vulnerable and _ soft _ in a way Iida only recently learned he could be.

* * *

Todoroki's poker face is stunning. That's all Iida can think as he hands the shirts back, folded carefully and put inside a paper back. Todoroki peeks inside, showing surprise only for a brief moment before his expression turns blank. "Thank you," he says, as if it's the most normal thing in the world. As if Iida hadn't just symbolically told him he was dating his ex. Or maybe he wasn't surprised; maybe Todoroki saw this coming even before Iida did.

As for the rest of the world, they learn in time. Iida's family is predictably excited for him, and he gets a lot of riffing from his brother, but it's nothing he can't handle. Bakugou tells his parents too, and over time their friends find out - Iida mentions it to Midoriya on the phone a few weeks later to stunned silence, and it spreads through their friend group like wildfire.

Sero gives him a rather half-hearted "Congrats," and Iida senses there's something behind it unsaid. And a week later Sero gives his two weeks' notice; he's switching agencies. "This is between you and me," he tells Iida. "Your boyfriend is too loudmouthed to know. But the reason I'm leaving is that I - I talked to Fujita. I knew we wouldn't be able to date or anything if I stayed here, since she's my boss, right? So I asked her, if I left, would I have a chance with her?"

"And she said yes?"

"No, she said no." Sero laughs a little darkly. "Of course. But then I realized I'd screwed everything up. It was so awkward working with her after that, for both of us I think. I can't do it anymore. I need a fresh start."

How Todoroki feels about Iida and Bakugou being a couple, Iida isn't sure. It's that pokerface of his, of course, though Iida can imagine his feelings aren't plain and simple to begin with. Iida's feelings towards Todoroki are complicated, too. In a way, it was his jealousy towards him that got Iida together with Bakugou, so he has reason to be grateful; yet that jealousy is still there, deeper and quieter but alive. Bakugou might tell Iida things he never told Todoroki, but there's still the burning knowledge that Bakugou and Todoroki have _ done _ things Iida can still only imagine.

The day Bakugou has a nightmare even with Iida sleeping by his side, Iida makes them both appointments with a therapist. He should have done it earlier, but it was convenient to believe that the problem had dissipated on its own. And even if Iida's presence prevents _ most _of the nightmares, he doesn't want Bakugou to be there because he has to be; Bakugou should want him for himself, not need him like some kind of good-dream security blanket.

The men involved end up pleading guilty, too; Iida never needs to testify. The public forgets. When the paparazzi snap photos of Iida and Bakugou holding hands or on a date together, the image captions mention the kidnapping as an afterthought, or not at all.

Everything fades, but it is all still there. Sometimes Iida wakes up disoriented, and for the briefest of moments his mostly-asleep brain tells him he's on a cot, in a room without doors, until he feels the soft bed beneath him and smells the air of his own apartment. Sometimes Bakugou still wakes up nightmare-stricken, and Iida holds him and listens as he talks about the hopelessness he felt in his dream, the sense of being trapped forever.

The feeling never quite leaves, but it lessens. It brought them together, but when Iida's with Bakugou, it doesn't seem so important. He looks at Bakugou's face and reminds himself that it's long past. Bakugou looks at his face, and Iida can watch the pain ease. He kisses Bakugou and forgets it entirely, forgets it in the pleasure of being with him, the warm press of their bodies together, the feeling of hands on his back, the soft warmth of his lips and the rhythm of his heart.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Thanks again for everyone who followed along as I wrote this story. I appreciate every comment/favorite I receive!

I do want to write more in this universe with these two. I can't make any promises, but I definitely feel like there could be fluffier spinoffs in the future.

I recently started a tumblr specifically for writing about writing, and I did a post on this story. FFN does not allow links, but my tumblr username is doop2.

Thanks again, and I hope you enjoyed this story!


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